Better
by I heart shoes
Summary: It's been two years since I noticed Jesse de Silva and two years since I lost my friendship with Cee Cee Webb. Junior year seems to be going perfect, well minus the whole Jesse/Cee thing. And then, it gets even better...but for how long?
1. 001 I watched you

_Hey guys (: So, The President's Sons will soon be coming to an end - I'd say there's about 5 chapters left? Anyway, expect for the story to be finished in about a month; it should definitely be finished by then, depends on my schedule - or if I'm just lazy at updating , I'm going off course of what I even wanted to say. I'm going to write a new story for when TPS is over. This here is the first chapter to my new story (: I'd love to hear everyone's feedback as to whether I should carry on with this , I'm super super excited for this story so enjoy (:_

_- I heart shoes X_

_Btw, have you guys heard River Flows In You by Yiruma? I've recently taken a likening to piano music for some reason, and it is truly beautiful. _

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine. **_

**Song and title credit goes to Taylor Swift - amazing rolemodel of mine.**

**001. **

**_I watched you talk, you didn't notice._**

There's always that one special guy that you've had your eye on, that one guy who seems untouchable. He's most likely an untouchable because he's one of the 'populars', someone that you only crush on from afar - or at least, that's how it was for me.

Jesse de Silva was _that _guy for me. He was the golden guy of our school, the Adonis, the school heartthrob. Every girl wanted to be_ with_ him whereas every guy wanted to _be _him. I was one of the many girls that liked him, but I didn't really make it as obvious as they did. The only two people that knew were Adam McTavish who was my best friend, and Cee Cee Webb who was my _ex-_best friend.

'Ex-best friend' sounds so…petty, so childish. But I had good reason to be both petty and childish towards Cee Cee. The three of us - Adam, Cee and me - had been inseparable all the way from kindergarten through to the end of middle school. High school was a new adventure for us all to conquer, an adventure for us to conquer _together. _

_Freshman year:_

"_Suze!" I heard a voice shout from across the hallway. I turned around to see Kelly Prescott and her friends - 'minions', as Adam called them. I was shocked to see that Kelly was talking to _me; _she had been in the same classes as me from kindergarten, but we hadn't really crossed paths before._

"_I'll be right back Adam, I just want to see what she wants." I said, smiling at my best friend before walking over to where Kelly and her posse stood. "Hey, Kelly." I smiled at her; some people didn't particularly _like _Kelly but I had had no reason to complain about her, so I didn't._

"_Hey, Suze." She smiled back at me, her white teeth gleaming underneath the fluorescent lights of the hallway. "Me and the girls were wondering…"_

"_Yeah?" I asked._

"_You have _so much _potential." I furrowed my eyebrows, not really knowing where she was going with her conversation. "You're like, really gorgeous and with the help of me and my friends…well, you could be _stunning._Just think Suze, you could capture your dream guy's attention, be the 'It' girl - minus me, of course." My mind instantly went to Jesse de Silva. He was everything I wanted, everything I _needed. _It had only been a week since I had seen him but I knew that he was that guy for me, the one I wanted more than anything._

"_What are you saying, Kelly?" _

"_I want to make new friends, Suze…ones with the potential to be popular, like us!" I bit my lip, knowing where she was going with this. "Be friends with _us, _Suze. Forget those two losers friends of yours, they're holding you back."_

"_Kelly, they're not losers. _They're my best friends," _I looked at her, and smiled a small smile. "Thanks for this offer but, I can't ditch them. I'm sorry." I walked away from her, ignoring the murmurs of her friends._

I had told Adam about it straight away and he had laughed hysterically for minutes, before I smacked him upside his head. I couldn't wait to see Cee at lunch and tell her what a joke it had all been. But the joke was on me. Kelly and co. had asked Cee Cee if she wanted to be friends with them after I had said no, and she said yes. _She said yes. _All those years of friendship had meant nothing to her. So from that day on until now - our junior year - we had gone our separate ways; It was just me and Adam now, whereas Cee had joined the 'plastics'. BFF? More like BFF until a better offer comes along.

*****

"Hey Adam," I sat down, joining Adam for lunch. "Man, has this day dragged or what?"

"Tell me about it," He took a sip of his Fanta. "Plus, I had math. With Cee." Adam had had a crush on Cee in our freshman year, and I was pretty sure she had had a crush on him in return. It cut Adam deep when she just upped and left - especially when she came in the next day as a fake version of herself, flirting with the jocks.

I sighed, before looking over to where she sat. She was sat on some guy's lap, stroking his arm. _Where had my best friend gone? _Adam and I continued eating our lunch, before throwing away our leftovers and trash. We had to pass Cee's table in order to leave the canteen; Adam soldiered on, as usual whereas I walked slowly. I caught Cee's eye, and just stared at her for what seemed like minutes but in all actuality, must have only been seconds. She shamefully dropped my gaze before giggling at something that Kelly had said.

I walked out of the canteen and over to Adam, who had been chatting to my brother Brad. Bradley Ackerman was actually my stepbrother - along with Jake and David - but I thought of them as my brothers. "Hey Brad." I smiled at my favourite brother.

"'Sup, little sis?" I giggled at my nickname; Brad and I were in the same year, but he was two months older than me - a fact that he loved to mention _all _the time.

We chatted for a while before the bell for our next lessons rang. My next lesson was P.E - a lesson that I shared with Jesse. I quickly made my way to the girls' changing rooms before changing into my Nike shorts, white polo and Adidas trainers. I made my way into the gym and sat down on the bleachers, next to Mary-Jane Beckett. She was a sweet girl that I hung out with occasionally.

"You might need to put your hair up, Suze." She indicated to my brown hair that was in loose waves today.

"Oh, thanks!" I scooped my hair into a high ponytail, before letting my gaze avert to Jesse and his friends who were sat a few rows below us. Jesse was _gorgeous; _he had the most silky black curls that I itched to touch, the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes that I wanted to gaze at forever and the most sexy Spanish voice that I wanted to hear forever. Okay, so I was obsessed with him but the depressing part? He didn't have a clue I was even alive. Or so I thought.

_What did you guys think? Lemme know! Personally, I'm really excited for this story and hope to make it better than my other two haha. Anyway, see you in the next update of The President's Sons._


	2. 002 Something about you is so addictive

_So, I know I said that I wouldn't update until TPS is finished, but I love this story too much to wait (:Thanks for the response so far guys; your reviews definitely make me feel loved. I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEW MOON!!!- I heart shoes X_

_**Thank you:Anber; CupcakeSweetheart; xxMarzbbyxx; red glasses; ticklemecutie; mahi; writer'sblock7777; evil-sami-poo; kelliekinz; cuddly vampire teddy bear; Marien Volturi; TraylorxChaylor; JimmyChoo2709.**_

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine. **_

**002. **

**_Something about you is so addictive._**

Jesse and his gang were kind of weird; I say weird, but I don't actually mean weird. Weird, right? In my school, there were cliques - heck, there's cliques in almost _every _school. So, Jesse and his little 'crew' were weird in the sense that they didn't belong to a clique. To be honest, they made their _own _clique: There was Taylor - he was the jock out of them all; there was André - he was the Spanish foreign exchange student; there was Guy - he was the artist of the bunch; there was Parker - he was like the 'indie' guy of the group who smoked pot and skipped class.

And there was Jesse. Jesse de Silva was a mixture of all the aforementioned guys. He was muscular, but he wasn't all brawn. He was smart, but he wasn't a nerd. He was a rebel, but he wasn't into skipping class. He was an _enigma_. Damn, did Susannah Simon like enigmas, or what? Well, I did if they went by the name of Jesse de Silva.

"Suze!" Brad pounded on my door. "Wake up, or else we're going to be _late_!" I jumped at the sound of Brad's fist connecting with the door.

"I'm up!" I yelled back. I _had _been up; just awake and thinking of Jesse. I sighed inwardly, it was a lost cause liking Jesse. I'd be more than surprised if he even _knew_ who I was. I was in his P.E class and A.P Chemistry - like I mentioned before, the boy was smart - but I could bet that he didn't even know that I was in his school, let alone his classes.

Today was A.P Chemistry, and even though I sat in the second row and Jesse sat at the back, I was going to dress to impress today. I pulled open my wardrobe doors and stood in my underwear, pondering over what to wear. I looked through my clothes, deciding that they're weren't good enough for today. I then spied an ASOS bag - my mom had picked me up a few things from the store that day and I had forgotten all about it. I pulled out a grey sweater dress that had tight sleeves and a short hemline. I slipped it over my head, and put black tights on along with it. My grey ankle boots completed the look.

Susannah Simon was ready.

*****

"Ready?" Brad asked me. We both shared the same homeroom, and surprisingly I didn't mind. Brad was actually one of my best friends. We walked to homeroom and took our usual seats. I hung out with Brad and his friends in homeroom. His friends were real sweet, despite them being the jocks of our year. Andrew was my favourite jock out of them all, and he was also a good friend of mine.

"Suze, you look ravishing today." I took my seat that was between Brad and Andrew. Andrew draped his arm around my shoulder. I smiled at him, and thanked him. I was itching to get to A.P Chemistry - for once, I might add.

Andrew was also in my A.P Chemistry, so I said bye to my brother and the rest of the boys before walking with Andrew. The two of us were very close with each other, and many had mistaken us as a couple which I had scoffed at - he was sweet but I was deeply in lust with Jesse.

"Hurry up, hurry up." Mr Moran shooed the both of us into class. We quickly dropped into our seats, before turning to Mr Moran who had something to tell us. "Now, I realise that this is Chemistry but as requested by our head teacher, you are required to do a special project. It is irrelevant to Chemistry," At this, Mr Moran pursed his lips. "But, it is required so . . ." He trailed off, leaving us all in suspense,

"Any time today would be nice." Parker muttered from the back of class. Parker was rarely in class, so I was surprised that he was in. More surprised than I had been at the start of this year when I had found out that he was in our class.

"Something to say, Mr Spragg?" Mr Moran asked to Parker, before continuing. "Every junior is getting the same project as you."

"Which is?" Parker muttered, once again.

"I was getting to that," Mr Moran glared at him before continuing. "Now, starting from tomorrow, the rest of the week - and next week - is Friendship Fortnight. Friendship Fortnight is pretty self-explanatory, but for any of you who don't have a clue as to what it could be, here is a brief summary: You are to be partnered with anyone from your year. For the fortnight, you are to 'hang out' and 'chill' with your partner." I snickered at Mr Moran's use of 'teenage' phrases. "For one week, both of you will 'go chill' with one half's group and the other week, vice versa." I looked at Andrew, and cringed. I so hoped that I didn't get anyone to do with Cee's group.

"Please pull a name out of the hat." Mr Moran called our names in alphabetical order. "Susannah Simon."

I walked to the front, knowing full well that everyone was watching me - that included Jesse. I reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper.

Parker Spragg.

Looks like I'd be hanging out with Jesse and his friends for a week. Cue girlish squeals.

* * *

_I'm so jealous of Suze, haha. Let me know what you think (: It only takes a minute - if that - to review!_


	3. 003 But you're untouchable

_NEW MOOOOON (: I'm so excited haha, in case you didn't already notice. Anyways, I'm back for another update of Better. Oops, I know I'm meant to update TPS first, but I am too addicted to this story and all the possibilities it has, whereas everything for TPS is set in stone now._  
_- I heart shoes x_

_**I am very pleased to tell you guys that I found the Stats page haha (:Couldn't Care Less had . . . 10,641 HITS!! You guys are the greatest!!  
It was also added to a community (: So, THANK YOU VERY MUCH whoever added me onto it! I'm very happy as CCL was my first, proper story that was ever completed - it's my baby (:  
Also, this story has had 192 hits with just 2 chapters. YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE!!**_

_I can't cope doing the reviews in private messaging form; I can't keep up with who I have replied to and who I haven't! So expect your review replies in chapter 4 (:_

_Also, you may have noticed that I 'edited' Chapters 1 and 2 again - I was adding song lyrics to them; sorry if this caused some confusion._

_**Parker cusses a lot, so please don't read if you don't feel comfortable with that. Just a heads-up (:**_

**Song and title credit goes to Taylor Swift. Expect a lot more of Taylor's little snippets ;)**

**003. **

_**But you're untouchable, burning brighter than the sun.**_

"So, erm…" I trailed off, not really knowing what to say to Parker. He was a very good-looking boy, but that wasn't the reason that I didn't know what to say (trust me; I hang out with a _lot _of good-looking guys). He was a friend of _Jesse's - _an untouchable - who just so happened to get paired up with me.

He raised his pierced eyebrow at me. "Yeah?"

"Never mind." We fell back into our (un)comfortable silence. I was thinking what I could say next, when Adam came rushing over.

"Suze, you'll never guess --" Adam paused, after seeing me with Parker. "Oh, hey Parker."

"Hey, dude." Parker raised a hand in acknowledgement. "You seen Jesse?"

"He's actually my partner for this fortnight thing." Adam said smoothly, sneaking a look at my face. I was _very _much in shock. _Jesse_ was Adam's partner... Damn, I had so much opportunity to be around him!

"Hey." A deep, smooth voice cut through my fantasy of me hanging out with Adam, Parker and Jesse. I froze; I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Where the fuck you been, dude? I texted you like, a million years ago." Parker had the mouth of a sailor; we had been stood together for like, ten minutes and already I had heard the word 'fuck' more times that I had heard in a month.

"Don't use that type of language in front of a lady, Parker." Jesse scolded him, before turning to me. "You're the unfortunate one paired up with this loser?" He raised his lips into his famous half smile, half smirk. _How many times had I wanted to be on the receiving end of his smile? _This was one to tell the grandkids, for sure.

I smiled back at him, once again stuck on what to say. Adam helped me out, "Well, seeing as we're all together, how do you guys want to do this thing with us?" I looked at him, befuddled. "Should we sit with you first or like, the other way around?"

Note to self: don't forget to tell Adam that you love him - not only did he rescue me from an uncomfortable silence with Parker; he was doing the same with Jesse.

"Dude, you guys can come to us." Parker shrugged his shoulders. "My friends are shitheads, though."

Jesse rolled his eyes at him and I tried not to swoon. Adam watched me, and also rolled his eyes.

The bell for third rang - however, for the whole Friendship Fortnight thing, we were allowed to have the day - in school, mind you - to 'hang out' and 'chill' with our new friend.

Jesse and Parker began walking away as soon as the bell rang, Adam and I were unsure of what to do. "Come on, man!" Parker waved us to them.

"Where are we going?" I asked, indirectly directing my question to Jesse.

"Starbucks?" Parker asked to Jesse.

Jesse shrugged and turned to face me, "You want to go to Starbucks, Susannah?"

I nodded and smiled at him, "Erm, yeah..."

As we began making our way to Jesse's Audi A8 - white in colour and downright sexy - I turned to Adam, and clutched his arm. "He knows my name!"

*****

"I'll have a hot chocolate, please." I smiled at the cashier. He placed the hot beverage in front of me; I was about to hand him my $5 when Jesse caught my wrist, gently.

"I'll pay." He handed the cashier $10, paying for my hot chocolate and his espresso. "And don't even think about saying no; I've already paid."

I shook my head, trying - and failing - to hide my smile. "Thank you."

"It's no problem, Susannah. No problem at all." He grabbed our drinks and set them on the table that Adam and Parker were already vacating.

"You know, I prefer Suze." I said to Jesse; Susannah was a pretty name, but then I didn't really live up to it. I preferred biker jackets with dresses to cardigans with dresses, I preferred lip balm to lip gloss, I preferred...well, the option that was the least girly.

"Susannah is a beautiful name," Jesse smirked at me. "Suze is sweet but I prefer Susannah."

I looked down and smiled at my lap. I was very thankful that I had dressed up; talk about a good day!

We sat chatting for a while, before Adam looked at the time. "It's been cool hanging out with you guys, but I got to shoot."

I raised my eyebrows. "Where?"

Adam looked flustered, before composing his cool. "Nowhere, just got essays to do with stuff." He kissed me on the forehead and waved at Jesse and Parker, before hurrying to his car - he had driven himself here.

I narrowed my eyebrows at his retreating form. "He's not telling me something." I muttered.

*****

"Hey, momma!" I kissed my mom hello, and then went to peck Andy's forehead. On the way up to my room, I ruffled David's hair and mock-punched Jake's arm. "Someone's in a good mood." Brad laughed at me, as I floated to my room in ecstasy.

"Bradley, Bradley, Bradley." I threw my bag into my room, before sitting on Brad's bed and reaching for the other X-Box control pad. "Good mood doesn't even cut it."

"Why's that?" Brad asked, as he kicked my ass at Halo. Hey, I never said I was good!

"I'm in lust!" I smiled at the screen - I had managed to shoot a random alien.

"What?!" Brad asked, forgetting about the game. "With who? I swear to God, you better not be sleeping with him!"

"I wish," I muttered. "I mean, this guy's sweet and hot and yummy and just...wow."

"Your point?"

"Oh yeah, erm...he's just kind of out of my league, is all." It _was _true; Jesse was a walking hotty/Abercrombie and Fitch-model-just-waiting-to-happen.

"Whatever, Suze. You don't hear half the things the guys say about you in the locker room...wish I didn't have to hear either." I giggled and swatted him, before drifting to my room.

Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough!

* * *

_Review? (:_


	4. 004 Tonight is the night to let it go

_Hey everyone (: So, I'm back. Not a lot to report here, so on with the review replies._

_- I heart shoes X_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**redglasses - **__Thank you (: And here's the update! Thanks for reviewing!_

_**ticklemecutie - **__Yeah, Suze is very 'teen crush' on Jesse - it's meant to be that way. There is a reason for Jesse's interest in Suze._

_**CupcakeSweetheart - **__Haha, we need a Jesse in our life ;) Parker is a HOTTIE, I want him for myself. Nom nom nom. Ly too (:_

_**JimmyChoo2709 - **__I hear you! I want my own Jesse too. Oh well, let's keep wishing (: Thanks for reviewing!_

_**TraylorxChaylor - **__Yeah haha, I've tried to make it all young and sweet (: Bitta you and Tyler ;) You guessed right where Adam is going - gold star for you! Thanks for reviewing!_

_**Fangrules - **__Thank you & thanks for the review!_

_**Dori-tori - **__Aw, thank you so much & thanks for the review! I'm glad you like Brad and Suze's relationship._

_**LMAO, I LOVE MY SISTERS (:**_

**Song and title credit goes to Jay Sean; so proud that he's British (:**

**004.**

_**You oughta know, tonight is the night to let it go.**_

Adam and I had been sitting with Jesse, Parker and his friends for three days now; I was very comfortable around them all, despite Parker's protests that they were 'shitheads'.

"Hey Suze." Parker raised a hand in salute as I made my way over to his table.

"Hey," I took my seat at the round table. "What's up?"

"_Actually, _I got some good news, Suze." He paused, before laughing. "That rhymes."

I looked at Parker with an eyebrow raised and muttered, "And to think some girls find you hot." Parker stopped laughing and looked at me.

"Ha ha; now, you want to know this good news or what?"

"Please enlighten me." I beamed at him as he passed me a chocolate brownie that he had bought for me - Parker was seriously a sweetheart in disguise.

"I'm having a party!" Parker exclaimed. "_And_ . . . You're invited!"

"A party?" I bit my lip; Parker's parties _did _sound exciting, but Brad was overly protective of me going to things like this. "You know, Brad might not be too happy about me going to your wild parties."

"So, you don't want to come?" Parker asked, pouting.

"I didn't say that," I giggled. "So, when is it anyway?"

"Tomorrow night," Parker took a sip of my Slurpee. "You're definitely coming?"

"Sure!" I bit into my brownie . . . _Heaven._

Parker gave me a one-armed hug. "Let the fucking fiesta begin!"

*****

Parker's parties were known for being notorious; drugs and drink were _always _in supply at his parties (or so I'd heard). I was stuck in a dilemma over what to wear - most of the girls wore short shorts or skimpy dresses, but I wasn't really into showing more flesh than was necessary - my overprotective brothers also agreed with me. I had gone shopping after Parker had told me about his party to find something _appropriate_.

I had found a dress from ASOS; it was a little black dress that clung to my body. It ended mid-thigh - I knew Brad or Jake would have _something _to say about that. My hair was straightened into a casual yet classic look, and my makeup completed the look.

"Suze!" Brad yelled as I walked downstairs, careful not to trip in my 4-inch heels. "_What _are you wearing?!"

"Erm, clothes," I was pretty shocked at how _calm _he was; believe me, this was calm for Brad. "It's Parker's party; you know that I can't just go in my usual get-up."

"There is nothing wrong with your usual get-up, _but _seeing as it is a party, and I hope that this is just a one-off, you can wear it." Brad looked at me, grimly. "If I even hear of any guys so much as looking at you the wrong way, I'll pummel their faces in."

"Oh, Bradley," I wrapped my arms around him. "You're the best, but you worry a little _too _much."

Adam was waiting for me outside in his Audi A3, "You look pretty, Suze."

"Aw thanks," I looked at what he was wearing and flashed him a smile. "You look awesome tonight; you'll be getting a lot of female attention, that's for sure."

Adam was a _very _good-looking guy, what with his silky brown hair, hazel eyes and lean but toned figure; he was also the sweetest guy imaginable - he definitely treated women with respect. Heck, if he wasn't my best friend, I'd probably be crushing on him.

We quickly cruised our way through the streets, stopping outside a massive house with blaring music and blinding lights. "Here we go." I heard Adam mutter under his breath; I laughed at him but felt the same way. This was a _proper _high school party - who'd know what would go down tonight?

*****

"Suze!" I heard a voice call out from the mass of the people dancing and mingling; they parted to let Parker through. He stopped to a halt in front of me and looked me up and down. "Fuck, you look _hot._" I felt my cheeks redden before Parker tugged me into the kitchen.

"Want something to drink?" I was never really a drinker, but I figured that it'd be okay to let myself relax tonight.

"Sure," I said, offering the vodka and coke that Parker poured for me. "So, who else is here?" I was indirectly asking if Jesse was here.

"Erm . . . Everyone?" Parker looked kind of stoned, so I decided not to press him for a further answer; I was sure I'd see Jesse somewhere around.

"Wanna dance?" Parker asked me, taking the plastic cup out of my hands as I had finished my drink. I nodded yes and he led me to the 'dance floor'. Obviously, this wasn't slow dancing but I didn't exactly want to _grind _with Parker, so I just aimed for something between the two.

Eventually, the DJ slowed the music down and Parker wrapped his arms around my waist, and I wrapped mine around his neck. We had been swaying for five minutes or so, when I felt a presence behind me.

"Mind if I cut in, dude?" I heard _Jesse's _voice ask. Parker obliged with a cocky salute aimed to me; I rolled my eyes at him and smirked as he stumbled past all the smitten girls.

"Hey," Jesse spoke softly to me, his eyes never once straying from me.

"Hi," I replied. "Having fun?"

"Eh, it's alright - after having Parker as my friend for so long, I've kinda become immune to the buzz of parties. How about you?" He asked, as he wrapped his arms around me; butterflies in my stomach awoke at the feel of his strong hands on my waist.

"Yeah . . . It keeps getting better by the minute." I whispered, as I leant my head onto his broad chest.

*****

Jesse and I had been dancing _all _night, so it only seemed fitting when he asked me if I'd like to sit with him outside. We sat on the fountain's edge - Parker's house was like a _dream. _

I shivered a little as the night breeze came into contact with my bare arms. "Cold?" Jesse asked, the words leaving his breath in frosty wisps of air.

"A little," I shrugged. "It's fine." Jesse didn't even _have _a jacket on, so it wouldn't be a clichéd moment with the guy offering the girl his jacket so that she could keep warm.

I felt Jesse wrap his arm around my shoulder, "I'm sorry that I don't have a jacket, but maybe this'll keep you warm?" I melted a little inside at Jesse's words - he was such a gentleman!

I turned to him and smiled, "Like I said before, it's fine." I was with Jesse - how could things _not _be fine?

We sat chatting for another ten minutes or so, before I spotted Cee stood at the back door talking to some guy off the football team. I visibly paled, and Jesse must have noticed because he asked me what was wrong.

"Oh, erm . . . Nothing." I tried to think of something to say to Jesse, but he questioned me further.

"Come on, I know you're lying." He looked at me, and asked me why I was so upset again in a quieter voice. "What's wrong?"

"It's just - there's Cee . . ." I looked down at my hands, and Jesse waited for me to continue. "We used to be friends - I know that that sounds really petty but, I just . . . It's awkward."

"In what way?"

"We used to be like, best friends and now it's like we don't know each other." I looked at Cee who was now making out with aforementioned guy from the football team. "It's like I don't know her, anymore . . ."

Jesse squeezed my shoulder. I looked up at him, his face was filled with concern. "Hey, you don't need Cee," He smiled at me. "You've got me and Parker now."

*****

Monday soon came, and I awoke as fresh as a daisy. Now that Adam and I were sitting with Jesse, Parker and their friends, I had decided to make a bit of an effort when it came to my outfit choice. I put on a black sweater that was embellished with sequined stripes and a pair of black skinny jeans.

Adam usually drove me to class but he was elsewhere, so I drove with Brad today - I had a car myself, but I couldn't really be bothered to drive myself every morning. Yeah, I'm a lazy girl, but that's what brothers are for!

"So, what's this I hear about you and Jesse getting cosy at Parker's party?" Okay, seriously; it took Brad _two _days to address this? "I mean, I've got nothing against the guy but you know, you're my little sister and all."

"Aw, Brad - I know you're my big brother, but you _really _need to calm down on this over-protective big brother thing."

Brad looked at me for a long minute, and sighed. "Fine. But if he does anything to you, then I'll pummel his pretty face into the ground."

"He won't hurt me, Brad. I can promise you that - he's a good guy." I scoffed at what I was saying. "Like it's even relevant; it's not like he likes me in that way."

* * *

_R&R? Thank you so much for all the reviews, adding me to your alerts etc, and just generally for looking at my story._

_I already shamelessly promoted myself in TPS - which is over, guys! - but I'd love for you guys to check out my oneshot on Fictionpress: _**www(dot)fictionpress(dot)com/s/2747836/1/Easier_To_Just_Pretend  
**_Please please check it out (: It's only had 3 reviews :( BUT it has had 61 hits :) Plus, you can anonymously review it ;)_

_Anyway, I'm done. So, seeeeya (:  
_


	5. 005 Little taste of heaven

_Here is the next update of Better - enjoy (:_

_- I heart shoes_

_Btw, I so advise you to check out the acoustic/piano version of Jason Derulo's Whatcha Say._

_**Thanks to:**_

_**ticklemecutie - **__In my stories, I've tried to make each of the brothers have a chance to be Suze's favourite - so, in this one Brad is Suze's favourite. Haha, there will be a kiss soon but I want to kind of make this realistic, so things may be slow for a while. And girls will definitely be jealous, wouldn't you haha ;) Thanks for reviewing!_

_**flylittlechick3 - **__New reviewer? Hey, thanks for checking out my story and reviewing (: here's the chapter._

_** - **__Here's the update. Thanks for reviewing (:_

_**CopyCatsHurtfulKisses - **__Aw, thank you very much (: I'm glad that you're enjoying it. David is Suze's favourite brother in Meg Cabot's series, but I try to change things in my stories. Thanks for the review!_

_**dori-tori - **__Here's the update; thanks for reviewing!_

_**CupcakeSweetheart - **__I so so so wish that Jesse and Parker went to our college too, or just any hot (single) guys. Haha, I wouldn't know what it's like to have an over-protective brother :'( Thanks for reviewing! Ly xx_

**Where have all my reviewers gone? :'(**

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for anything recognisable. However, anything that you don't recognise - the story plotline, etc - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Taylor Swift, yet again ;)**

**005.**

_**Little taste of heaven.**_

I had hardly spoke to Adam after the party, so I was shocked to actually find him in his seat in Math.

"Oh, you're alive?" I asked him, sarcastically. "Where have you been? I've been ringing and texting you."

"I know! I'm sorry . . . I've been kind of busy."

"Doing what?" I asked, looking at him. I noticed Cee was waiting for his answer - she was sat behind us. Okay, if she ditched us for Kelly and her moronic friends, why was she so determined to know what we were up to? Let go, CeeCee!

"Just, you know," He swallowed, and continued speaking. "Football, you know that I want a scholarship in that, and all."

"Hmm, okay then." I turned to him and lowered my voice, telling him about what had happened between Jesse and I at Parker's party. "Hey, where were you anyway? I had to get a lift home with Cindy from English."

"Again, I'm sorry," He smiled sheepishly at me. "I don't really remember a lot about that night - I was quite drunk."

"Ah, I was a sober girl that night. I can handle my drink, unlike _someone_." I nudged him in the ribs, and Math continued just like old times.

Lunch soon came, and I was definitely looking forward to it - it's not hard to figure out why. "Hey guys," I smiled at all of the boys sat around the table, even if I did find it quite scary to be the only girl sat at the table. Another thing that I found scary? Andre and Taylor; they seemed to have some kind of problem with me - but not Adam. What had I even done to make them not like me? Oh well, Jesse and Parker and Guy liked me - it was all good.

"Hey Suze, 'sup?" Parker smiled at me, handing me a brownie as I sat down. Like I said before, _sweetheart._

Guy smiled at me, shyly. Andre and Taylor sneered at me and then looked at each other, whispering like bitchy girls.

Jesse looked at me and smiled his famous half-smile, half-smirk. "Susannah! How are you?" He scooted next to me.

"I'm good, thank you. How are _you?_" He replied in the same way and was about to say something else, when Parker spoke up.

"So, dudes," He looked at me, confused. "And dudette . . . er, I'm thinking about having a movie night tonight. You guys up for it?"

The guys nodded their head, silently answering Parker's questions. "What about you?" Parker asked me.

"Erm, yeah, sure." I smiled at Adam. Tonight was going to be fun!

*****

A knock on my door interrupted my getting ready for Parker's. It was David. "Hey David, what's up?"

"What are you up to?" I smiled at him; bless, he was a sweet boy.

"I'm actually going over to Parker's for a movie night."

"Oh right. Have you told Brad or Jake?" _Even _David got how overprotective they were toward me.

"Not just yet," I bit my lip. "I'll go tell them in a sec. So, did you want to talk about anything?"

"Nah, it's okay. I just wanted someone to help me set up my telescope, I'll ask dad." He smiled at me and went to find Jake.

I got up and went to find Brad/Jake to tell them where I was going.

"Brad? Jake?" I called.

Jake was in the dining room eating some Lucky Charms, "I'm going over to Parker's for a movie night tonight."

"You are, are you?" He raised an eyebrow at me, "Just you and Parker?"

"No. There's a few of us. Plus Adam." I knew that throwing in the Adam card would work - my brothers _adored_ Adam, namely because he had never tried anything on with me.

"Hmm. I say yeah, but let's see what Brad has to say about it; Brad!" He hollered. I rolled my eyes as Brad came running up from the basement.

"Brother duty on." He saluted Jake, "What seems to be the problem, officer Ackerman?"

I scoffed at him. "Dork. And all I wanna do is go to Parker's for a movie night - Adam's even going to be there!"

"Adam?" Brad wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and beamed at me. "In that case, sister dear, you are free to go."

"Thank _you._"

"You're going in _that?_" Brad looked at my yellow Gio-Goi hooded jacket, grey sweatpants and grey Uggs in shock. "Oh well, at least I know you're safe dressed in those clothes."

"Brad!" I smacked him in the chest, grabbed my car keys - shock and horror, I was actually going to drive! - and set off to Parker's; I was going to meet Adam there.

I would never, ever get over the size of Parker's house. It was amazingly huge, plus it still had that cosy feel to it.

I knocked twice and then figured, that in such a big house, nobody would be able to hear. I pressed the doorbell once, waiting for someone to answer.

"Suzie!" Parker opened the door and pecked me on the cheek.

"Oh, please don't call me that." I winced and followed him into the 'movie' room. It was actually a literal movie room: there was a massive 70inch plasma screen and plenty of comfy, leather couches.

"Finally." I heard Taylor's voice mumble as I walked into the room. I ignored him and wondered where I should sit - Jesse was on a loveseat that had one place left, Adam was on a giant beanbag that would surely fit the both of us and Parker was sprawled on the biggest couch and despite how huge it was, there was still space for one more person.

"Why aren't you sitting down, Suze?" Guy asked me, his voice sweet.

"Er . . ." I chuckled, humourlessly. Jesse got my dilemma because he smiled a secret smile to me, "Why don't you sit with me, Suze? That okay, guys?"

Everyone nodded their okays, thus leaving me the chance to sit with Jesse.

"What are we watching, amigo?" Andre said. I laughed at the fact that he had actually _used _the word 'amigo'. I mean, I _love _Spain and anything to do with it (see, Jesse) but who used the word _amigo _casually?

"What you laughing at, princess?" Andre glared at me sharply and I ceased laughing.

"Hey Andre." Jesse said, sharply. "Calm down. I told you that people would laugh if you used the word amigo in public, but did you listen?" He chuckled and turned to me. "Ignore him, he's pretty weird."

I smiled at him, and sank into the couch feeling totally relaxed. I'd never felt so comfortable with someone before . . . surely, that meant something?

*****

The films we had been watching so far were total guy films - we were watching American Gangster, at the moment - and I was beyond bored. I silently yawned and sneaked a look at everyone:

Taylor and Andre were stuffing popcorn, all while staring at the screen. Adam looked mildly interested, but he also looked deep in thought; I tell you, my best friend is weird. Parker looked the same as he usually did - stoned but happy. And Jesse? Well, Jesse still looked as delicious as ever as his gaze was planted firmly on the huge screen.

I inadvertently yawned, feeling my eyes slowly close. I must have dozed off for a while because I awoke when I felt someone gently shaking me awake. "Susannah?" Jesse whispered.

My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I noticed that a different film was now on: Public Enemies, this time.

"Mm?" I murmured, sleepily.

"You tired?" He smiled at me. I nodded, not really up to speaking. "You wanna sleep upstairs?"

"Um . . . I'll be fine, thanks." I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the blinding light coming for the plasma. "I think I'm going to get some water."

I stood up, and promptly sat back down. "I don't know where the kitchen is." I whispered to Jesse, ignoring the look that Adam was giving me. It was along the lines of, _what are you doing?_

Jesse chuckled a little, and gently tugged me up. "Come on."

As I poured myself some water from the tap, I felt Jesse stand right next to me.

"Jesse?" I questioned, taking a sip of water.

He softly took away the glass and set it down, clutching my face in his hands and joining our lips together.

* * *

_Hard as I try, I can't make the chapters long without thinking that the chapter is dragging on, so sorry about that.  
_

_R&R? :')  
_


	6. 006 Hey, this could be something

_Due to popular demand, I am updating a little earlier than I was originally going to. Also, I've finally finished college for Christmas for 17 days!! Yay (:  
- I heart shoes_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**king of the jungle - **__As if you have this name haha, sometimes I'm ashamed to be related to you. Gotta say that it's funny though ;)_

_**JimmyChoo2709 - **__Yay, long review alert (: Haha, I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger but it adds tension, which is something all stories must have ;) Haha, I loooove the snow, but it doesn't even stick proper :( Whereabouts in England do you live? Thanks for the review!_

_**CopyCatsHurtfulKisses - **__Here's the update. Thanks for the review!_

_**dori-tori - **__I don't have a brother either :( I really really really want one too - preferably an older one! Here's the update (; Thanks for the review!_

_**princess taz - **__Hmm, it __**is **__pretty soon but no point holding the inevitable off haha. There may be a catfight; I'm not too sure - I don't really plan everything out in my stories, I just kinda wing it. And nope, she doesn't have a close girl friend. Thanks for the review!_

_**ticklemecutie - **__Thanks for the review!_

_**redglasses - **__Thanks for the review!_

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Boys Like Girls, and Taylor Swift (: She pops up everywhere.**

**006. **

_**I remember what you wore on the first day, you came into my life and I thought "Hey, you know, this could be something."**_

I was too shocked to respond, at first. _Jesse was kissing me! _Finally, my brain caught up with my mouth and I began kissing him back. He kissed me with a sweet, gentle passion. It was like . . . wow.

We separated a few minutes later; Jesse chuckled and handed me back my glass of water. "Er, I'm not thirsty anymore," I set the glass down on the marble counter. I didn't know whether to mention what had just happened? I'm sure I read somewhere that guys don't like girls to be too clingy.

Oh well, screw it. "What just happened?" As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished that I could snatch them back up.

"Well, I kissed you," Pause. "Why, what do you think happened?" He asked, amusement twinkling in his warm brown eyes.

I shook my head, smiling. "Well . . . maybe we should kiss again now that we're on the same wavelength," I don't know what had possessed me to be so bold, but I certainly wasn't complaining when Jesse smirked and captured my lips with his once again.

"What are you guys doing?" We broke apart to the sound of Parker's voice, which was coming from the movie room.

"We're coming," Jesse smiled at me, before kissing me once again. He was probably the best person that I had ever kissed . . . I hadn't kissed a _lot_ of guys, but I had kissed enough to know when they were good at it.

"We better go back in," Jesse mumbled against my lips. "We don't want Parker to throw a tantrum."

I reluctantly gave him a last peck, before pulling away. We walked back into the room. Adam gave me yet another look; _we're going to talk about this. _Parker knowingly smirked; Guy smiled awkwardly at us whereas Taylor and Andre were just in their own movie marathon.

I sat in the place that I had been sat next to before, and focused my eyes on the screen. To the boys, it would have looked like I was watching the film but I was thinking: What were Jesse and I, if we were anything at all. Why had I been so, so . . . bold? I inwardly cringed; I should be locked in my room until my teenage years are over.

Public Enemies had now finished, and Parker flipped the lights on.

"Dude, you could have given us some warning," Andre flipped Parker off.

"Shut the fuck up, you baby," Parker stretched, revealing an inch of his lean torso. "So, you guys staying over? It's that teacher day thing tomorrow, so we got the day off anyway."

Taylor declined, "Got football practise."

Andre also declined, mumbling something about a date with Kelly Prescott. Adam and I shared a disgusted look.

"Yeah, I'll stay," Jesse shrugged. "I'm over here enough, anyway."

Guy agreed to stay over, as did Adam. I was looking at a photo of Parker and his older brother that was on the wall, when I felt eyes on me: I turned to find everyone staring at me, "Can I help you?" I asked.

Parker laughed at me, "Look at you, checking out my brother," I blushed; I _had_ been rating him out of ten (he was definitely a nine). "So, you staying over or what?"

"Erm. I'll need to ring my brothers first." I plucked my phone out of my pockets and dialled the home number.

"Yo." Brad.

"You know you could just answer the phone with a 'hello'," I said. "Bradley, you're the best brother ever."

He sighed, "What do you want?"

"Could I stay at Parker's for the night? Pretty please," I crossed my fingers. "Adam's staying too."

"Give the phone to Adam."

Five minutes later, Adam handed me my phone. "You can stay."

****

I clutched the cushion to my face and ignored the guffaws of the boys. "It isn't funny," My voice was muffled from the cushion in front of me. "I _hate _scary movies."

Adam laughed, obviously remembering the many times that we had watched a scary film together.

I lowered the cushion and then wished that I hadn't. It was the 'thriller moment': the one where the stupid actress decides to walk around whilst _someone is in their house! _I clutched the arm of whoever was sat on my right and squealed when the stupid bimbo opened the friggin' basement door!

"Turn it off, Parker!" I yelled, glaring at him from my position on the comfy couch. He must have felt intimidated by my 'scary' glare because he turned the TV off, flooding the room in darkness.

"I wasn't expecting you to listen to me," I murmured. I felt Guy laugh beside me, "Suze, could you please stop gripping my leg?"

I let go and giggled, humourlessly. "I'm so ready for bed; where am I sleeping tonight, Parker?"

Parker walked over to me and swung me over his shoulder, "You're upstairs, dude."

I giggled as he led me up the stairs. "I can see someone's boxers." I laughed at his Scooby-Doo underwear.

"They're an ironic statement, okay!" Parker defended himself, before chucking me onto a large bed in a maroon and cream room.

"You're rooming alone," He began walking out of the door. "Is that okay, or are you still a little scared?"

I _was _scared; but I wasn't going to freely admit it. "I'll be fine, thanks," He switched the light off. "'Night, Parker."

I snuggled into the soft pillow and fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I awoke about two hours later - I had had some random nightmare that I was in a big, old, creepy mansion and there was someone in the house; it was basically the film re-enacted with Susannah Simon as the lead actress.

I walked over to the bathroom, switched to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I stared at my reflection for a minute or so before deciding to just go back to my bed. I opened the door and promptly screamed. A hand slapped itself over my mouth.

"Shh, it's only me," Jesse quickly ushered me into the bathroom. "Damn, you weren't joking when you said you get scared from movies like that."

I took a deep breath and Jesse released his hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I delicately smiled. "I just, I had a nightmare. It shook me up, is all."

Jesse smiled back at me, just staring at me. I noticed a stray curl that was randomly sticking up so I moved my hand to pat it down. I then leaned forward and caught _his _lips in a kiss.

He kissed me back for a few minutes, sweetly and passionately. It was only when I wrapped my arms around his neck that it changed: it became hard and gentle, soft and rough. I sighed into his mouth and smiled into his lips.

_As if I was kissing Jesse de Silva! _My mind was filled with ecstasy.

We pulled away and I rested my head on his chest. "Susannah?" His voice rumbled through my body. "I really like you, you know; I have done for a while."

I looked up at him, amazed. "Really?"

"Really," He nodded back before kissing me once again.

* * *

_Boring chapter but it has to be done - filler chapter. R&R?_


	7. 007 He smiles because he knows

_Well, I'm back (: Hope you enjoy!  
- I heart shoes_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**ticklemecutie - **__Haha, Latino passion :') I honestly can't write kissing scenes, so I just try to make them trivial haha. Thanks for reviewing!_

_**jungle_run_fan_101 - **__Nice name ;) I want to watch Jungle Run really badly haha. & they're not bf/gf yet. Thanks for reviewing, yaar ;)__**CupcakeSweetheart - **__Jesse is a sweetie . . . But for how long? Sorry, I couldn't resist haha. Well, if I could change into a boy, I wouldn't anyway haha so you're on your own there. It's okay, you have Tom ;)Thanks for reviewing!_

_**dori-tori - **__Aw thank you :') Thanks for reviewing & here's the update! _

_**TraylorxChaylor - **__Haha, I want a Jesse :'( & I won't tell you where Adam was then haha - you're the only person who's picked up & told me (: clever girl! Thanks for reviewing! _

_**JimmyChoo2709 - **__Aw thank you (: Oh, we are well far away from each other. & yeah, its snowed a lot here too. I agree though, the snow is annoying now, all icy. Thanks for reviewing! _

_**person - **__Hi, I don't know any other way to get back to your reviews from 1 & 2. Anyways, to answer some of your questions: Jesse is a ghost in Meg Cabot's version, but as this is fan fiction, I didn't want him to be a ghost (: Also, Brad is her favourite in my story; in each of my stories, it differs. Thanks for reviewing!_

_**Disclaimer - most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Jessica Simpson.**

**007.**

_**His lips are pure emotion, he smiles because he knows.**_

I awoke the next morning feeling as fresh as a daisy; my nightmare didn't occur again, it seemed. I was still in my clothes from the night before, so I saw no need to get changed, it wasn't like I had any clothes with me anyway.

I slowly walked downstairs, trying to find my way around. I heard noise coming from the kitchen/dining room so I walked in the direction of the laughter.

I slowly opened the door, peaking my head around. "Come in, dear," Parker's mom smiled at me. "We're just eating breakfast, what would you like?"

I smiled at her, "Anything will be fine, thank you. I don't want to be any trouble."

"Aw, sweetheart," She smiled and passed me a stack of pancakes. "It's no trouble at all."

I smiled back and took a seat at the dining table, sneaking a look at who was eating: there was no sign on Guy, but Jesse and Parker were sat already, eating pancakes too.

I smiled at them both awkwardly; I didn't know how to act around Jesse - should I act like yesterday hadn't happened, or should I just carry on kissing him? Jesse looked his cool, calm, composed self so I just followed his lead.

"You guys sleep well last night?" I asked, ignoring Jesse's smirk as he recalled our kiss last night.

"Was alright," Parker shrugged. "How about yours?"

"Yes, Susannah," Jesse smirked smugly. "How _did _you sleep?"

I ignored Jesse, once again. "Ur, it was okay."

Parker ate and then quickly excused himself, "I'm going to go wake Guy up, the lazy shit."

Mrs. Spraggs was already out of the kitchen which is why Parker reverted back to his swearing self. I wanted Parker to stay because there was no chance of Jesse addressing our kiss(es) from yesterday. But, he went.

"You done?" Jesse asked me; I nodded and Jesse picked up my plate, popping our plates in the dishwasher.

"Thanks," I muttered. I wasn't sure what to say next. Jesse did, however:

"You doing anything today?" Jesse asked, sitting back on the leather chair.

"I don't think so; how about you?"

"Well, I don't have any plans . . . I don't think so, anyway," He smiled at me. "We could spend the day together, if you want?"

My eyes widened, "Really?"

"I meant what I said last night, Susannah," Jesse leant forward, looking into my eyes. I licked my lips unknowingly, and didn't fail to notice how his gaze strayed to my lips. He leant forward and licked my bottom lip. I shivered, causing Jesse to chuckle.

He leant forward more, brushing our lips together. I was ready to deepen the kiss when he pulled back, "You don't want Mrs. Spraggs to walk in on us, do you?" He smirked at me. I shook my head and feebly punched him in the arm.

"You're mean," I pouted. "So, are we really spending the day together? Because I look rough; I should probably go home and get ready."

"You do not look rough, Susannah, quite the opposite actually." He brushed our hands together, "But, I can drop you off if you like?"

"Yes please," I said, walking toward the stairs. "I'm just going to say bye to Parker and Guy."

I walked into Parker's room, watching my two friends on the Wii. "You guys, I'm going!" I shouted over the noise of their competitive cheers. "Jesse's dropping me off."

"Aw." Parker pressed the pause button. "Do you _have _to go?"

I hugged him back and smiled, "You'll see me at school tomorrow."

I said my byes and thanked Mrs. Spragg before heading to Jesse's Audi, in which he was waiting for me.

*****

The car ride was filled with a comfortable conversation; the almost-kiss had released all the tension.

I told Jesse where I lived and he began driving to my house. "So, how's Brad these days?"

"Huh? I never knew you and Brad were friends."

"We're not exactly friends, more . . . _acquaintances_," Jesse said, thoughtfully. "Nah, he's an alright guy."

"Yeah, he's just a _tad _overprotective," I sighed. "It gets super annoying when Jake and him gang up on me."

"He'll let you go out with me today, right?" Jesse asked, looking concerned. "If not, I'll talk to him."

"He should do," I smiled at Jesse, loving how he was willing to ask my protective brothers if we could go out. "So, where are we going? Should I just dress casually?"

"Casually should be fine . . . just dress warm." And that was all he would tell me. We made it to my house in just under ten minutes.

"I guess I'll see you mmphf -" I was interrupted by Jesse's lips. He kissed me slowly, twining his fingers in my hair. He pulled away a few minutes later, "Sorry, I just had to kiss you." He smiled smugly.

I smiled bashfully at him, "As I was saying, I'll see you later." I pecked him once more before heading into my house.

I ran straight to the basement, which doubled up as my brother's gym, trying to locate either Brad or Jake. 'Luckily', they were both there. "Guys, is it okay if I go out today?"

They looked at each other, and then at me, baffled expression on their faces. "And . . ." Brad stated.

"And, it'swithaguy," I mumbled.

"Sorry, what?" Jake asked. "I thought you said 'it's with a guy'."

"It is . . ." I smiled sweetly at them. "With Jesse de Silva." I could see my brothers wanting to say no, so I rushed in before they could speak. "Oh, _please. _I've liked him for so long and now I finally have the chance; and you guys just wanna ruin it." I pouted.

"I was actually going to say yeah," Jake laughed at me. "How about you, Brad?"

"I was going to say, yeah but if he hurts you, Im going to break his face," I smiled at them both and hugged them.

"Don't worry, Brad; he won't hurt me," I called over my shoulder as I made my way up the basement stairs: time to get ready!

I took a quick shower and opened my wardrobe, towel wrapped around my figure. _Jesse did say to dress warm, _I thought as I studied the contents of my wardrobe.

I eventually decided on a neutral grey turtleneck, black skinny jeans and my black cardigan over the top. I left my hair in its natural tresses, quickly applying a light lashing of mascara and a slick of lip-gloss.

I heard the doorbell ring a few minutes later, just as I was putting my phone in my pocket. Jesse!

I ran down the stairs, hoping, wishing, _praying_ that I was the one to open the door.

"Hello," I heard my mom _simper. _"And who might you be?"

"Hello. I'm Jesse de Silva; I'm here to take your daughter out." That was my cue.

"Jesse!" I smiled at him. "Hey."

"Hey," He smiled back. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," I ignored my mom subtly shaking her head; she just wanted to stare at _my _guy. "See you later, mom."

"Bye," Jesse waved at my mom. I think she nearly fainted.

He led me to his enticing car, pulling open the door for me. I sat in the car, waiting for Jesse to get in.

"So, where are we off to?" I asked, looking at his hooded jacket and jeans.

"We're going ice-skating," He smiled at me, and then his smile faltered. "That's okay, right?"

"It's fine," I smiled at him. He was too sweet.

We got to the ice-rink and Jesse paid for us to go in. I laced up my skates, Jesse waiting for me. As I skated onto the rink, I wobbled a little; Jesse noticed and clutched my wrists, gently. "Careful," He muttered.

"It's been a while since I've done this," I said, sheepishly. Jesse saw no problem in this, taking my hands and skating us around the rink. We stopped five minutes later, "You thirsty?" Jesse asked. I nodded and we went to the refreshments bar; "I'll have two sodas, please," Jesse said to the waiter, who was openly ogling me.

"Thanks," Jesse spat out, putting the money on the counter, ignoring the waiter's open hand. "Come on," He uttered softly to me, guiding me to a table with his calloused hand on the small of my back.

The waiter guy collected our empty soda cans when we were done, dropping a piece of paper in my lap as he walked past.

"What's that?" Jesse asked, teeth gritted as he asked me.

I covered his hand with mine. "It's nothing," and to prove it, I ripped up the little slip of paper. Obviously not in plain view of the waiter: no matter how obnoxious he was, that'd be a bit too mean.

We carried on skating for a while, before deciding to wrap up and head off to grab something to eat. We headed to a cute little deli, ordering sub sandwiches.

"I had fun tonight," Jesse said, wrapping an arm around me as we took a little walk around the block.

"Me too," I smiled at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and standing on my tip-toes to kiss him, softly.

That wasn't good enough for Jesse as he wrapped his arms around my waist, deepening the kiss. We made out for about five minutes, before we heard a sneer,

"Well, look who we have here."

* * *

_R&R? _

_(Sorry for leaving with a cliffie).  
_


	8. 008 Are you gonna be my girl?

_**I'm back (: Merry Christmas, everybody. Did you all have a nice time? Get any lovely presents? **_

_**- I heart shoes**_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**CupcakeSweetheart - **__You so do have Tom ;) All shall be revealed in this chapter, don't worry haha. I agree, Parker is a sweetheart; don't worry, when we're at NYU we will find our Parker ;) Thanks for reviewing!_

_**BlueDevilChick304 - **__Haha, I thought Suze deserved to be the lovesick one for once ;) Thanks for reviewing!_

_**JimmyChoo2709 - **__I'm sorry to say that it isn't CeeCee and Kelly! The majority thought that it was them though. Here's the next chapter and thanks for reviewing!_

_**Jeremih - **__Loving the name ;) 'Girl, you know I-I-I love ya!' I also love the fact that this story is one of your favourites, yay me! I hear you, I'm beyond jealous of Susannah. You only know who the person is 'cos you live with me, dude. Thanks for the review!_

_**ticklemecutie - **__Sorry to say but it isn't Kelly Prescott. Thanks for reviewing!_

_**dori-tori - **__You'll find out who it is, soon (: Don't worry, there is going to be a Hell of a lot of drama, but but but it isn't coming just yet. Here's the update; thanks for reviewing!_

_**TeamTHEFT - **__No, it wasn't the waiter . . . And I never thought about adding Diego into the story, but I may do now - so kudos to you (: I haven't read Naruto or Maximum Ride, sorry. I'll ask anyone here to read it? But, thanks for reviewing!_

_**TraylorxChaylor - **__Hey (: Thanks for reviewing! _

_**Hey guys, so for a fellow reviewer, (if you read Naruto or Maximum Ride), then be sure to check out TeamTHEFT's account where she has stories up about them (:**_

_**Disclaimer - I do not own anything that Meg Cabot created; I only created what I created, so don't steal (:**_

**Song and title credit goes to Jet; I don't even listen to their music, but the lyrics fit in well.**

**008.**

_**I said, are you gonna be my girl?**_

"And then, Andre came waltzing by with Kelly, which is just gross, and was all 'well, well; what do we have here'," I retold the story of mine and Jesse's date, "And, Jesse was like . . . so pissed off. He told Andre to shut the fuck up, before like driving me home." I pouted at the fact that Andre had cut our date short.

"He does seem to have some kind of problem with you," Adam muttered thoughtfully.

"Mm," I agreed. "It's just . . . I've not done anything!"

Adam and I continued to watch Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa; we hadn't watched a movie, with just the two of us, in for_ever_. We were soon interrupted, though.

"Adam, my home dog!" Brad came in, hooting and yelling. "How you doin', dude? Not seen you in a while." He sat in the middle of Adam and me, effectively pushing me onto the other side of the couch.

"Hey!" I yelled, punching him in the arm.

"Er, excuse me, little sis," Brad wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "But, I have heard a _lovely _little rumour about you and my acquaintance, Jesse de Silva."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you were apparently making out with him outside that diner place that sells those subs."

I laughed meekly, "Well, you know . . ."

"I know what?" His tone was interrogatory; curse stupid, overprotective brothers.

My phone suddenly rang, the familiar tune of Jay Sean's 'Down' blasting through the speaker. "Hello?" I answered, not checking the Caller I.D.

"Hey," It was Jesse. Wow, I never knew that the day would come where _Jesse _was ringing me.

"Hey, what's up?" I smiled into my words, knowing that Jesse could hear it.

"Not much," He smiled back. "I was wondering if you wanted to do something."

"Now?" I asked. Now would be perfect, but there was no way that I was ditching Adam; that was just rude.

"Why, is now a bad time?" Jesse asked. I could picture his furrowed eyebrows.

"Well, I have company," I didn't want to exactly use Adam's name _in front _of Adam. "You could always come over here?" I asked, hope in my voice.

"I don't think your brothers would like that," Amusement laced through his words.

"I don't care what they like. Besides, our date was cut short and everything," I knew that this would cinch him. "It's the least you can do to make it up to me."

Jesse groaned, "Susannah."

"Is it working?" There was a pause. "Please, Jesse; pretty please."

"Fine," Jesse sighed. "I'll be there in ten. And you can tell your brothers." He hung up with a soft bye, and I grinned. My grin soon faded when I noticed Brad looking at me, one eyebrow raised.

"Was that Jesse?"

"Er, yeah."

"The same guy we were just talking about?" He looked at me with a hard stare.

"Yes!" I then decided to play the little sister act. "I was wrong to openly make out with him - especially when we're not dating, but I'm hoping that maybe, that'll change soon. I'm sorry."

Adam knew what I was up to. "I'm going to find Jake," He sighed, leaving the room.

"Fine," Brad looked at me, pensively. "What do you want?"

"I really, really would like Jesse to come over, please, please, pretty please," I rushed my words, eager to get them out.

"Jesse? And you? In our house?" Brad questioned, before staring at me for a few minutes. He then shrugged, "Okay."

I lunged at him and pulled him into a hug, "You're the best brother in the world; don't tell Jake, but you got him beat."

Brad laughed and released me, "Yeah yeah. Now go wait for your lover boy."

I quickly stopped in the hallway, checking my hair and makeup before opening the front door; I heard the familiar, smooth growl of Jesse's Audi, just minutes later.

"Hey," Jesse climbed out of his car and walked over to me, pecking me on the cheek. "You okay?"

I smiled at him and answered the standard, really thinking how I wanted a proper kiss; but not here, not on the front porch . . . my brothers would have a heart attack.

"So, your brothers agreed to me being here, huh?" Jesse asked, following me into the room that Adam and I had occupied before; now, it was just me and Jesse. _Alone._

"They can't resist my sweet ways," I teased, sitting on the plush couch and watching Jesse follow suit.

"Yeah, a bit like me," I heard Jesse mumble. I don't think that I was meant to hear that so I showed no indication that I had heard, just leaned back and asked Jesse if he wanted to watch a film.

"No, I'm good thanks," Jesse turned to face me. "Let's just . . . talk."

I was pleasantly surprised; guys never wanted to _talk,_ in fact I'd go as far as saying that they feared talking when they could be doing other things.

"Let's," I smiled at him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Anything, everything," Jesse smiled slightly at me. "God, I sound like such a loser; I guess you do that to me."

And with that said, Jesse and I talked and talked and talked.

*****

It was back to school, all-too-soon. I quickly showered and threw on a pair of grey shorts, my white tee with the grey bow and my white tennis shoes.

I jogged down the stairs, feeling happy for no apparent reason, and went into the kitchen. "Hey mom," I kissed her on the cheek, quickly grabbing a granola bar and munching on it whilst I waited for Brad to hurry up. He eventually came down, and we were on our way to school.

I got out of the car, slipped my bag over my shoulder and joined Brad in going to homeroom. Everyone was there when we entered; I could thank our nearly being late to Brad's sleepy ass.

"So, Suze," Andrew slung an arm around my shoulder. "Heard you're cheating on me with de Silva. I didn't know you two were dating."

"We're not dating," I laughed at Andrew. "We're just . . . you know, hanging out."

"So, you're sleeping together?" Matt asked, impish smirk on his face.

"Wha--" I was ready to answer Matt's stupid question, but _someone _cut in before I had the chance . . .

"Oh fuck; you better not be sleeping with him, Suze," Brad began muttering to himself. "What was I thinking?! Letting that son of a gun into our house,"

"Brad, what the Hell," I glared at him, and then at Matt in a _thanks a lot _kind of way. "I am _not _sleeping with Jesse; I've only kissed the guy like three times."

"Good." And with that said, the two of us sat in an awkward silence while the rest of the guys chatted about football and girls.

English soon passed, and then it was time for my newly-favourite lesson: Science. Due to this whole friendship fortnight thing, we had to sit with our assigned partners (if they were in that specific lesson) so I sat with Parker - and Jesse - in Science.

"Hey," I smiled at Parker.

"'Sup." Jesse wasn't there just yet, so Parker and I had some time to talk. "Seems you've made an impression on my boy, Suze."

"What do you mean?" I asked, ignoring the funny pangs in my stomach.

"I don't know; I mean, the guy never gets this affected over--" Jesse walked in at that precise moment, so Parker wisely stopped talking.

I tried to comprehend what Parker was _going _to say: I affected Jesse? Wow.

I must have spaced because I heard Mr. Moran ask me what the answer was; I quickly gazed at Parker, who shrugged apologetically. I then stole a glance at Jesse who mouthed the words 'oxygen'. "Erm, oxygen," I smiled at Mr. Moran, weakly.

"Correct," Mr. Moran pursed his lips, looking at me strangely before asking the next question. I turned to Jesse, and whispered:

"Thanks."

"It's no problem at all; were you day-dreaming?"

_No, I was thinking about you and how wonderful you are. _"Yeah, I spaced." I smiled at him, before turning back to the board. I had to stay focused.

Lunch soon came and, for that, I was thankful; I was beyond famished. I walked with Jesse and Parker to my locker, to put my bags away and stuff. Parker suddenly remembered something. "Fuck," He cursed again, much to my dismay. "I've got to do that shitty oral quiz for Mr. Lee. I'll see you guys later." He walked off and left Jesse and I alone.

I quickly put my books in the locker and began to walk with Jesse to the lunch hall. Suddenly, Jesse grabbed my hand and pulled me into an empty classroom.

"You're driving me crazy," Jesse murmured against my hair, his hands tight on my waist.

"Jesse?" I wasn't sure what Jesse was _doing._

"Mm," He mumbled, face still glued to my curls.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh right," He didn't release his grip on my waist, but did release his face from my hair. "God, you don't know what you do to me, Susannah."

I said nothing, just letting him talk; to be completely honest, I don't think that I could have spoken if I'd tried. Jesse was like, proclaiming his love - I hoped, anyways - to me. Wow.

"You're just a _girl_. I never get so . . . drawn into girls like this, but you're just . . . different, I guess. Definitely a good different, though. You're making me feel all these emotions; you're like my weakness. And I shouldn't _have_ a weakness." He leaned back some more, and looked into my eyes. "What are you doing to me?"

I gulped, and looked into his intoxicating, brown eyes. I didn't fail to notice how his gaze strayed from my own green eyes to my lips. I wasn't really _sure _what to answer back to him. I involuntarily licked my lips out of nervousness, aware that Jesse was still looking at my lips. Wow, I guess Sexy Mother Pucker really does work.

Jesse gave me no warning, as he swooped down and licked my bottom lip; he then kissed me properly. This kiss was a little different though: while it still had that soft, caring tone behind it, it was rough and hard, filled with passion.

"Susannah, will you be my girlfriend?" Jesse asked when he finally let me breath in some well-needed air.

I wolfishly smiled at him, "I thought you'd never ask." I answered his question by proceeding to kiss the breath out of him.

* * *

_I tried to make it that extra bit longer - it worked, seeing as it's a couple hundred words longer than the rest of my chapters.  
R&R? (:_


	9. 009 He's always on my mind

_Hey guys (: sorry for this extremely long wait; my holidays have been very busy due to a new arrival in the family! I don't think I like this chapter :/  
- I heart shoes_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**gingerbread man - **__thanks dude, and I bet you're glad to hear that I'm updating ;)_

_**ticklemecutie - **__here's the update (: thanks for reviewing!_

_** - **__thanks for reviewing!_

_**CupcakeSweetheart - **__please don't say Matty. Blegh haha. Aha, I prefer Parker to Jesse; something about smokers ;) thanks for reviewing!_

_**dori-tori - **__thank you (: & hope you had a merry Christmas too! Thanks for reviewing!_

_**kelly - **__new reader? Thanks for reviewing!_

_**TeamTHEFT - **__aw thank you, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it (: Haha, no worries about the publicity. Did it attract any new readers? Thanks for reviewing!_

_**Disclaimer - I do not own anything that Meg Cabot created; I only created what I created, so don't steal (:**_

**Song and title credit goes to Hannah Montana. Who cares if I'm 16 and still watch and listen to her (:**

**009.**

_**Everywhere I go, he's always on my mind.**_

"So, basically, we're dating," I finished, smiling at my mom. My mom was beyond happy when she had found out that we were together; she loved Jesse (not to mention that she probably has a minute crush on him).

"Oh, that's sweet," My mom smiled at me, adoration in her eyes. I knew that she was thinking of my dad; my dad had died when I was younger, but I knew that my mom had never once stopped loving him. "Let me know if the boys give you any grief for it, huh?" She winked at me, before turning back to stir the pasta that was cooking on the stove.

I was dreading telling my brothers, but it had to be done and now was as good a time as any. "I'm going telling them now; wish me luck."

"Good luck, honey," My mom called over her shoulder as I made my way to the basement.

Both my brothers were in the gym, working out. "Hey," I said softly, so that I didn't startle them.

"Hey," They both replied back. "'Sup?"

"Well, er, you might want to put down your dumbbells." I chuckled softly, weakly, faintly. Gosh, I was dreading this.

"Suze, what is it?" Jake asked me, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Well, you guys are very overprotective and while it can be sweet sometimes, there are also times when it isn't relevant," I took a breath, "Now would be one of those times."

"Why?" Brad asked, staring at me.

"Well, you obviously know about me and Jesse . . ." I trailed off, hoping they'd get the message.

"Obviously. Now spit it out," Brad looked at Jake, and then at me. What an over-reactor.

"We're going out," I said, wanting it out as soon as I could. "Boyfriend-girlfriend, dating, going steady."

"Cool," Brad shrugged. Jake just turned his attention back to the weights.

"Cool?" I sputtered. "Cool?! That's all you have to say?" I couldn't believe that I had been dreading a 'cool' response from my brothers.

"Fine, if he hurts you, we'll kill him," Brad said, lifting the weights above his head. "But, that goes without saying."

I harrumphed, before walking to my room. I quickly got out my phone and rang Adam, telling him about my brothers and their idiocy.

He had a good laugh about it, much to my dismay, before saying that he had to be 'somewhere'; he always had to be somewhere lately. I was going to ask him about that soon.

I then decided to ring my boyfriend - I couldn't get enough of saying that. "Hey," Jesse picked up on the first ring.

"Hey," I smiled into the phone. "So, I told my brothers about us . . ."

"What did they say; you're okay, right?"

I laughed softly, "I'm fine, thank you. And they were absolutely cool with it," I paused whilst Jesse made an appreciative noise. "But, if you hurt me then they'll break your face."

"Susannah, I wouldn't dream of it," He sounded serious, all of a sudden. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do," I said, gently. I knew that Jesse wouldn't hurt me; I just knew.

*****

"Suze, are you listening or what?" Parker demanded as we sat at the lunch table; for some reason, we were always the earliest there like, every day.

"What? Oh, yeah, yeah." I smiled at him bashfully - I had totally not been listening to him; I had been thinking about a Jesse de Silva. I was beyond falling for him and his wonderful ways. I hadn't seen him so far that day, but he made up for it with his numerous texts that kept on coming.

The familiar beep of my cell alerted me to yet another text off of Jesse, **im on my way (: xxx**

I smiled at my phone, quickly texting him back, **good. i feel like i havent seen you in ages! xxx**

Parker scoffed in disgust at the obvious look of adoration on my face, "Take it that's Jay-man?"

"Jay-man?"

"Yeah," Parker played with his lighter: on, off, on, off. "Every dude needs a bad-ass nickname."

I chuckled at his statement, "I wouldn't really say that Jay-man is exactly bad-ass."

"You don't think I'm bad-ass?" I heard a voice from behind me . . . Jesse. I turned around with a smile.

"Hi," I smiled at him, suddenly feeling exposed.

"Hey," Jesse slid in to the seat next to me, kissing me on the cheek. "You eaten yet?"

"Nah, I thought I'd wait," I was so comfortable with Jesse; I felt like we'd been dating for a _year, _as opposed to a day.

"I'll buy," He said, taking his wallet out of his jeans pocket. "What would you like?"

"Er, some potato wedges and a salad, please," Jesse queued in the line and I followed him with my eyes.

"He's liked you for ages, you know," Guy said, following my line of vision.

"What?" I asked, flabbergasted; I had known that Jesse had liked me, but 'for ages'?

"I think he noticed you in like, our first year?" I didn't really know what to reply to that, so I chose to sit there, just digesting the information in.

Jesse returned moments later, handing me my food and my soda, sitting next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I beamed at him, leaning into his side as we ate.

The (school) day passed on uneventfully; it only got interesting when I was just about ready to go home. "Susannah!" There was only one person who called me Susannah; I turned around with a smile on my face.

"Hi," I waited for him to walk over to me. "What's up?"

"Nothing," He shrugged. "I just thought I'd ask my _girlfriend _if she'd like to go out with me tonight."

Tonight was Friday night; I had been planning on just staying in tonight - but that was only because I didn't actually have any plans.

"Sure; where to?" I let my bag drop to the floor: it was too heavy and I couldn't cope holding it a minute longer, despite my having held it for five hours.

"Well, Parker wanted us to hit up this party that's being held someplace somewhere, it's called The Edge." The Edge demanded capital letters.

"Cool," I smiled at him. "Can't say I've heard of 'The Edge' but I'm game."

"I'll pick you up at seven . . . is that okay?" I smiled at his consideration, and answered with a:

"That's perfect," Boldly, I leaned forward and planted a kiss on his mouth, on my tip toes.

He followed my lead, and kissed me back. I pulled away a while later.

"I'll see you later," I got into my car - yes, I had driven myself today - and gave him a small wave. He grinned in return.

It was only when it hit 5.00pm that I realised I didn't have a clue what to wear at The Edge. I decided to ring Parker and ask him.

"Suze!" Parker answered, enthusiastically.

"Hey, I'm coming with you guys to The Edge tonight," I waited for Parker's hoots to finish before carrying on what I was saying, "I have _no idea _what to wear though. Help?"

"Aw, you're such a girl," I rolled my eyes as he said it - of course I was such a girl! "Anyway, just wear whatever; all sorts of cliques go to the party, so s'all good."

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later." I put the phone down and sighed. I was still back to square one. I eventually decided on a leopard print dress and my brown, suede ankle boots.

I was emailing Gina - one of my childhood friends - when I heard the doorbell ring. My brothers - yes, both of them - went to open the door, and I spied on them from the top of the stairs.

"Hey, man," Jesse and Brad did the man shake thing, whereas Jake nodded his head at Jesse: he was a little shy when meeting new people.

"So, heard you're dating our sis," Brad said, nonchalantly.

"Yeah . . . I really like her," Jesse said, smiling at the though of us -- at least, I hoped he was.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided to throw them all a bone by walking downstairs.

"Hey," I smiled at Jesse, and then at my brothers; they looked like they would rather be somewhere else.

"I guess I'll see you guys later." I didn't have a curfew so I was good to go.

I followed Jesse outside to his Audi; he opened the door for me, and I slid in. "You look stunning, by the way," Jesse smiled at me, warmly.

"Thank you," I took a moment to study him - he was wearing all black; I decided that I liked him in black. "You look really nice too."

We got to the party in just under twenty minutes; I walked into the party with Jesse, seeing Parker chugging down alcohol. "That boy," Jesse shook his head, chuckling.

"Jesse!" I heard a girl shout from the crowd watching Parker. She had black hair that was cut into random layers, with bangs covering her forehead. She also had a few piercings.

"Maria, hey!" Jesse hugged the girl, and I tried not to mind too much. He then turned to me, "Susannah, this is Maria, my cousin." He then turned back to Maria, "And this is my girlfriend, Susannah."

"Wow, girlfriend?" She smiled at me, warmly. "Hey."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," We chatted for a while longer, before Jesse whispered to me that he was going catching up with some of his friends.

Maria and I chatted for a while longer, before I decided that I should probably be getting back to Jesse. "It was real nice talking to you," I smiled at Maria, as I programmed her number into my cell. "I'll text you tomorrow."

She said goodbye, and I went to find Jesse. _He_ was now drinking alcohol - I didn't mind boys drinking, but I didn't really see the need in excessive drinking. Parker was next to me, guffawing, so I turned to him and asked, "What is Jesse doing?"

"Oh, I challenged him that he couldn't drink more than I could."

"Why would you do that? And why would he even accept your 'challenge'?"

"Well, Jesse de Silva cannot back down from a challenge - no matter what it is. That's probably why he's ended up with so many detentions," Parker explained, before rushing over to him and patting him on the back. "Damn, you did good, you fucker."

Jesse walked over to me, and tried to steal a kiss. I pulled away and wrinkled my nose, "You smell."

"Thanks?"

"No, I mean, you smell of alcohol," I explained, meekly.

"Ah, right," He smiled sheepishly at me, "I can't really back down from a dare."

"It's fine," I said, smiling. My brothers did the same, so whatever; it was just one flaw. I mean, it could even be seen as a good thing, by some.

"Cool," Jesse kissed me on the cheek, before looking behind me and furrowing his eyebrows. "I think I'm wanted by Andre and Taylor." He walked over to them, sending me an apologetic shrug.

As I had nothing better to do, I decided to sit on one of the chairs. I watched a few people dancing and the such; all too soon, my gaze rested on Jesse and his friends. By the look on his face, they seemed to be saying something that Jesse didn't entirely agree with.

He looked at me, biting his lip - Jesse's sign of concentration, I had soon learned - before looking back at his friends, and nodding. The two friends smirked.

I had a bad feeling about this.


	10. 010 You are the thunder

_Hello (: I'm back; sorry for the kinda late update - I've been trying my best to write every day, and I have been doing so, but it seemed like I'd only been writing for like 10 minutes before, for various reasons, I had to get off! Anyways, hope you enjoy & as always, lemme know what you think!  
- I heart shoes _

_**Thanks to:**_

_**Anber - **__Ahaa, you reviewed using my account :') & yes, you do know what is going to happen now haha. Thanks for reviewing!_

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_**TeamTHEFT - **__Aw, thank you (: I'm glad you're thinking about the title - it has a few meanings hah ;) Yay, I'm glad that my note helped. Lemme know if you want any more publicity haha. & here's chapter 10 (: thanks for reviewing!_

_**lilmizz3vil - **__Sorry about stopping there, but I needed a good point to stop :/ thanks for reviewing!_

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_**angel. of .darkness007 - **__You guessed part of their dare right (: however, I can't tell you everything that happened haha, otherwise there'd be no point in reading it :') thanks for reviewing!_

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_**Caris L. Clearwater - **__thanks for reviewing!_

_**CupcakeSweetheart - **__I hate Andre and Taylor haha. I wish Taylor had an ugly name, but no. Aha, you can have Nick - I'll have Parker (: he's so totally my type. I know! I want a big brother - but Inaaya will do ;) Just joking, I LOVEEEE her! Thanks for reviewing!_

**I love Parker, 'kay. He's mine (:**

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Selena Gomez and the Scene. I do love Disney pop.**

**010.**

_**You are the thunder and I am the lightning.**_

'Friendship Fortnight' had nearly finished; Parker and I had already decided that we would carry on being friends, unlike most of the people in our school who couldn't wait to part ways . . . Guy, for example:

"I honestly can't stand her," He sighed, resting his head on the locker beside me. "I genuinely try my best to be nice to people, but she just _aggravates _me." And who was this girl that was grating Guy's nerves?

CeeCee Webb.

"She keeps asking about Adam, too," Guy made a face.

"Really?" I wrinkled my nose - something I did when I was thinking _really _hard. The bell for homeroom rang. "I'll see you later; bye." I waved goodbye to Guy, before walking to homeroom.

"You're late," Brad said as I stepped into the classroom.

"I am _not,_" I sat in my seat, smiling at Andrew as he sat down next to me.

"Hey Suze," He ruffled my hair whilst he spoke. "I hear you've left me for the oh-so-sex y Jesse de Silva."

"I never knew you liked guys in that way," I teased, before going back to the subject at hand. "And yes, we are dating." I smiled as I said it; I loved the fact that we were together.

"That's sweet," Andrew replied. "But he'd better treat you right."

"He will, don't worry." I hugged him, shooting up as soon as the bell rang. "I have to go; I've got a science presentation." I pulled a face, before saying bye, and walked to science class.

Parker was already sat in his seat, doodling in his notebook, with his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration. I stared at him for a while, adoration plastered on my face; he looked so cute and child-like.

"I hope that you're not suddenly realising that you're madly in love with him," A voice came from behind me . . . Jesse's voice. As he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, I responded:

"Yeah; I suddenly realised that I dated the wrong best friend." I leaned back into him, feeling the rumbles in his chest vibrate against my back as he spoke.

"I've got something interesting to tell you," He kissed the side of my temple as he spoke.

I turned around in his arms, "Hmm?"

"Well, I was --" Jesse was cut off by the arrival of Mr. Moran, who scowled at us both. "Sit down."

Jesse mumbled something under his breath - some curse word in Spanish, most likely - as he took his seat.

The presentations flew by - and Parker's was certainly entertaining. We were doing about genetics - why a person had a certain characteristic and all that jazz; Parker decided to do his presentation on Edward Cullen. Yeah, I didn't even know that he'd read the books, either.

"Well, I think that Edward had some freaky shit going on," Parker ignored Mr. Moran's yell at him (for cursing). "I mean, which dude sparkles? That's so fucking gay. I mean, if Jesse sparkled or some shit like that, I wouldn't be chillin' with him."

"Parker!" Mr. Moran cut through his speech. "Are you going to talk about genetics?"

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, Edward has red eyes 'cos his mom and dad had them -- wait, that's not right. He had red eyes because he sucks blood," He muttered to himself, and I exchanged a grin with Jesse. "Um, er, to be honest, I'm chatting shit 'cos Edward was like adopted by the Cullen family; I don't know what he inherited off his 'rents." Mr. Moran rolled his eyes, as Parker dopily smiled at him. "Least I tried, huh."

As Parker began making his way to his seat, everyone began applauding. I smiled at him as he sat down. "You are honestly the most awesome guy ever."

"Okay, if I didn't know any better then I'd say that you're in love with Parker," Jesse smiled at us both, amusement twinkling in his warm brown eyes.

"It's true," Parker pecked me on the cheek, sloppily.

Laughing, I pushed him off me and wiped at my cheek. Parker pretended to pout, before breaking into his dimple-inducing grin. It was soon my time for the science presentation - it went with a breeze.

_Finally _the bell went - which, phew. Parker ran to where a group of stoners were, chatting animatedly with them.

Jesse wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my temple as he spoke. "I have some news, Susannah."

"Hmm?" I asked, putting my hands over his strong arms.

"My mom wants to meet you tonight; she invited you over to dinner."

I twisted in his grip. "Really?" I was nervous and giddy - the butterflies were definitely appearing in overdrive.

"Yeah, she wants to put a face to the name and all that." I was secretly happy that Jesse talked about me at home.

I just hoped that it went okay.

*****

I gave Andrew my car keys, asking if he'd drive my car home - Brad could give him a lift home. I also rang Andy to tell him that I was going to Jesse's for the evening; he was happy for me and told me to 'have fun'.

"Jesse," I spoke softly. "Will your mom like me?"

Jesse took his right hand off the steering wheel, clutching it in my left hand. "She'll adore you."

The rest of the car journey to Jesse's passed in a comfortable silence. It was silent on my part because I was nervous; Jesse seemed content, so I was guessing that that was why he was silent.

We eventually pulled off into a dirt track. I was shocked when Jesse parked his Audi A8 in front of a small (but cute) log cabin. "This is your place?" I asked, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"Yeah," He opened my door for me. "It's kind of small, but there's only me and my mom so..."

I smiled sweetly at him, pecking his hand which was slung around my shoulder. "I'm excited to meet your mom."

With a smile, Jesse replied, "Well, let's get going then."

Jesse went getting his mom, requesting that I take my jacket off and get comfy. I looked around the sitting room - it was very cosy; brown, cushy sofas, ratted rugs and the fireplace going. But it was so not...Jesse.

How could my boyfriend afford a brand new Audi A8 and then live in a relatively small house? I wasn't being bitchy or snobby; I just couldn't comprehend how he had such an expensive car?

"I'm so excited, _hijo_." I heard a voice from somewhere behind me whisper. Seconds later, a homely woman stepped out. She was in her mid-40s, black hair peppered with grey strands wrapped in a loose bun. "You must be Susannah." Her accent was tinged in with her words. "Welcome, _miha_."

"Hi," I took a step forward and embraced her hug. She smelt of cookies and lavender. I think I liked her straightaway. "I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Oh, me too," I smiled at her, ignoring Jesse's smug smile - he was obviously happy that we hit it off straightaway. "I've heard _so _much about you, Susannah. My son just goes on and on and o --"

"Um, I think Susannah gets it now." Jesse looked embarrassed at his mom's words, but I was pleased as punch. After his mom had gone into the kitchen to bring us our food, I turned to Jesse.

"You talk about me?"

"Yeah," He hugged me from around the middle. "You know that I like you a lot."

"And I like you too," I pecked him on the lips. "A lot."

His mom called us in from the kitchen. I followed Jesse, adoring the many pictures of Jesse and his mom that aligned the walls. He was cute as a kid, and _very _stunning as the teenager that he was today.

The kitchen was a cute little ensemble of red and black. It was small, but very clean and shiny. We all sat down at the table; Jesse's mom had made chicken pasta with couscous. All in all, it was very delicious, and I expressly told Mrs de Silva. "Thank you, sweetie," She beamed at me, clearing the dishes - politely refusing my help - and serving up dessert.

Dessert was a simple strawberry and mint sundae - simple, but delicious.

After I had helped Jesse and his mom clear up, despite their protests that I was a guest, I went up to Jesse's room with him.

It was grey, white and black - and very tidy. "Hmm, my boyfriend: the tidy guy," I sat on Jesse's bed, admiring his clean room.

"Well, I knew I had to impress you." He sat with me, kissing my cheek after he spoke.

I rested my hand on his knee, "So, you knew I'd come into your bedroom?" I asked, teasing.

He returned my banter. "Well...yeah." I kissed him deeply, sighing as I fell on top of him. We lay together on his bed for a while, before I heard his voice rumbling.

"Susannah?" I turned to look at him - he was amazing; I had never been happier. "I love you."

Okay, scratch that; now I had never been happier.


	11. 011 According to him

_I'm so sorry for this late update – I was like ¾ through this chapter but my dad rebooted the computer: I lost it :|_

_Anyways, due to me wanting this out quicker, I am going to forgo the review replies and just get started (: hope that's okay with you guys!_

_I watched Avatar on Tuesday, and it was so great. I want a Jake. Very much so. If you haven't seen it, then GO SEE IT (:_

_Btw, sorry this chapter is so melodramatic haha. And if Suze sounds a little in touch with her emotions, its mostly because I am with mine today; she hasn't turned into an overthinker, don't worry.  
_

**Parker is mineeee, TraylorxChaylor ;)**

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Orianthi. I only just discovered her, but she is great!**

**011.**

_**But according to him, I'm beautiful, incredible.**_

I looked, stunned, at Jesse. "What?" I asked.

Jesse didn't look uncomfortable, in the slightest. "I love you." He repeated, smiling slightly.

For a few minutes, I was rendered speechless. I had never put a lot of thought into whether I loved Jesse or not, but the memories came pouring in:

_Freshman year when I first saw him – hell, anytime I saw him; Starbucks and him paying for my drink, despite not even knowing me; Parker's party and sitting outside, together, alone; Parker's movie night and the night of our first kiss; our midnight kiss at Parker's house; ice skating – our first date; when he asked me out in that empty classroom. And now this – his declaration of love. _There was only one conclusion:

"I love you," I looked up at him, in all seriousness. "I have done for a while."

Jesse grinned at me then, before lightly pecking me on the lips. "I love you. I love you. I love telling you that I love you," he murmured against my lips.

"And I love you," I said, kissing him tenderly. After we had pulled away to catch some breath, I had an exciting idea. "We should do something."

"Something?" Jesse asked, trying to kiss me again. Well, I certainly knew what _something _he'd like.

"Let's go out," I squeezed his bicep, feeling so overwhelmed with happiness. "Ooh! Let's go watch Avatar! Please?"

Jesse smirked down at me. "You want to go to the movies? Not some fancy-ass restaurant?"

"Yeah! I so want to watch that film. Please?" I looked at him innocently.

Jesse sighed. "You know I can't defy you when you look at me that way."

I leaped off of Jesse's bed, hugging him once, before checking my hair in the mirror. It was all messy, due to Jesse running his hands through it. "You look gorgeous, Susannah," Jesse said, slipping his tee off and slipping on a more tasteful sweater.

"Let's go," I said, excitedly slipping my hand into his. "Your mom won't mind, will she?" I hadn't thought of his mom, which seemed very mean. "She can come with us, if she likes."

"Let's ask her, shall we?"

Jesse's mom was poring over The Lovely Bones – a book which I had read and thoroughly read. It had a nice concept of Heaven.

"Mrs de Silva," I asked, as we walked into the room. "Jesse and I are going to watch Avatar, and we wondered if you'd like to come too?"

"Oh sweetie," she smiled at me. "I don't want to ruin your 'couple time'."

"No, no, we insist," I smiled back at her; she was really a lovely woman. "It'd be fun."

She shook her head at us both. "You don't give up, huh. Thank you, hon."

"It's no problem; I heard that Avatar is a good movie, so why miss out?"

We reached the movies in just under fifteen minutes. "Three tickets to Avatar, please." Jesse bought the tickets – despite my protests that I'd pay, saying that if I was that hung up over it, I could "buy the popcorn".

We reached our seats as soon as the trailers started. Jesse was in the middle of his mom and me; I snuggled into him, linking our free hands together. The film was a long one, but I didn't want it to end. Pandora looked like a lovely place to live in – and Jake Sully looked like a wonderful man. I voiced my opinions when we were walking out of the cinema, arm wrapped securely around Jesse's middle.

"Well, until you find your very own Jake, I'm afraid that you're stuck with me," Jesse smirked down at me.

"Well, you're lucky that Jake Sully's fictional, aren't you?" I teased, exchanging a pleased smile with Mrs de Silva.

"Well, I loved it but the graphics were too life-like; makes me wonder if it really was fictional," Jesse's mom said.

"Mom," Jesse shook his head, smiling. They really were a beautiful family – I had never seen a boy so close with his mom, and it only made Jesse more endearing. I often wondered what had happened to his dad, but I didn't want to pry – it was Jesse's story to tell at a time that he felt was right.

We dropped Jesse's mom off home; she had rejected dinner with us, saying that it'd be pushing it too far to be the third wheel once again. I felt a little pang when she said this, wondering if she was lonely. Now that I had found love, I didn't know how I'd cope without Jesse: big feelings for a girl who had only just turned seventeen, but what could I do?

Dinner was wonderful; I loved being in Jesse's company. But, all-too-soon, I had to go home and leave Jesse...for a night.

*****

School was getting better each day. Something that wasn't getting better was Taylor and Andre's contempt for me – and I still didn't get it; what had I even done, save for dating Jesse.

Adam had also spotted it. "They're both dicks anyway, Suze. Don't waste time on them worrying about it," he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "_But_ if they say anything, you'd better tell me, 'kay?"

"'Kay." I wrapped my arms around his torso, so happy to have him as my best friend. I was really in touch with my emotions, these days. "Do you want to go out for lunch, just the two of us?"

"No Jesse?" Even I was surprised that I was willing to leave Jesse for one hour, but I wanted some quality time with my best friend.

"Nope. Just me today, if that's okay."

"I can't wait; it's been a while, huh," Adam pecked me on the cheek, saying that he'd wait for me at the front of school.

I had P.E, which I shared with Jesse and _all_ of his gang – yeah, that included Andre and Taylor. Great.

I quickly changed into my shorts, black tee and Adidas trainers, before making my way to Mary-Jane. "Hey," I smiled at her.

"Hey Suze," she smiled back. "I so can't be doing with this lesson, right now."

"I can," I said, smiling slightly at Jesse who was chatting animatedly with Parker and Guy. Andre and Taylor were off flirting with Kelly and some of her bimbos.

"How's it going?" Mary-Jane gestured to Jesse and me.

"It's going _great_," I said, before listening to Coach. Kyler:

"Jesse, you're one team captain; Parker, you're the other. Choose your teams."

Jesse smirked at me, totally bypassing his friends as my name was clearly spoken up to the bleacher. I blushed at the stares of all my classmates, but smiled at Jesse as I got closer to him with each step.

Parker chose Mary-Jane, for some unknown reason to me – I was glad though; she was a very shy girl and I knew that one of her fears was getting chosen last in P.E because she wasn't as popular as any of the others.

Kelly's face looked like a thunderstorm, Andre and Taylor mirroring her expression. Before Jesse chose someone else, he asked if I had any preferences. I looked around before replying, "Guy?"

"Guy."

The teams were soon made – and I was happy to say that we didn't have Andre, Taylor _or_ Kelly in our team. I had a feeling that Jesse chose random people over his friends for me.

We played a friendly game of volleyball – well, it was supposed to be friendly. Unfortunately, a certain girl named Kelly Prescott decided that the game was 'too friendly' – one moment, I was volleying the ball over the net before Kelly whacked the ball into my head.

The world went black.


	12. 012 Wait till you pass out

_Sorry for the late update!_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**peanutbrain101 – **__I know this is you, Anber._

_**Ilovepunks – **__You are SAD. Yeah, me and ThePerfectMismatch are sisters for life. 2k10 blad. Oh yeah, Noah's Ark turned out well :| infact, that full trip led to what's happening now :/ _

_**ticklemecutie – **__This is fiction – it doesn't have to make 100% perfect sense; I'm sorry if you don't like it, but could you not write it in a more polite way? Sorry if I sound bitchy._

_**dori-tori – **__Haha, Kelly will get what's coming to her (:_

_**jayd-n33 – **__thanks for reviewing!_

_**vampirekisses1901 – **__Your name reminds me of The Vampire Diaries (: and thank you very much (:_

_**TraylorxChaylor – **__Bring it, girl ;) your darling likes MaryJane? I'm lost haha._

_**a/n – **__Thank you (: Andre and Taylor don't fancy Suze, no. You'll have to wait to find out why they hate her so much (: sorry!_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__I also hate Kelly (: & I wish we had a hot friend like Adam :(_

_**kelly – **__Yeah, I love Avatar haha._

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Chris Brown. **

**012.**

_**Wait till you pass out.**_

"Susannah?" I was being shaken, gently. A groan slipped out of my mouth as my eyes began to adjust to the light. "Susannah?" It was Jesse; of that I was sure.

"Jesse?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's me," his voice was distinctly there and it comforted me. "You okay, _querida_?" It was probably my mind not functioning properly at the time, but I never registered the nickname that he had given to me.

"Yeah," I muttered faintly. "What happened?"

"Well, Kelly spiked the volleyball at you." He ran his thumb gently over my hand. "Obviously that wouldn't have been enough to knock you unconscious – someone, we're not sure who, pushed you over whilst you were getting over the shock of being whacked in the head."

"But... who'd do that?" I asked, confused. "Does someone hate me that much?" Automatically, I thought of Taylor or Andre: but guys don't hit girls, right?

"I don't know," Jesse said, exasperated. "I wish I knew – I mean, for all we know, they could have just done it on accident."

"Mmh." I was thinking about who it could be, but eventually decided that it was probably an accident and the person just didn't want to own up. Who would want to own up, especially when I had an overprotective Jesse as a boyfriend? "Someone _will_ have just done it as an accident."

"I hope so." Jesse smiled weakly at me. "I know that it was a bang to the head but I felt so... helpless."

I caressed his cheek. "You know it wasn't your fault, right."

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts, Jesse," I said, seriously. "It doesn't matter. I'm okay, you're okay; that's all that matters."

Jesse sighed, but nodded his head. "You want anything?"

I shook my head. "Come lie with me."

Jesse's lips slipped into a grin. "You need to rest."

"I _am _resting," I said with a pout. "Please?"

Jesse shook his head, so I carried on with my relentless pleading until he agreed. "But only because you won't shut up," he said, pressing me against his chest. "I hope the nurse doesn't come in."

"She won't," I snuggled into Jesse, feeling my eyes close. "Sleep for a while."

*****

I awoke an hour later to an empty bed. Grabbing my phone, I texted Adam. **hey ** **adam, what lesson are you in? X**

His reply was instantaneous. **suze, you're awake! you okay? & im actually skipping :/ X**

**yeah, im fine. come get me, k (: X **

Five minutes later, I heard a voice shouting out my name. "Hey you," Adam wrapped me in a big hug, "how's the head?"

"The head's fine... the girl's suffocating."

"Man up, Suze." Punching him on the arm, Adam proceeded to tell me he was joking. "Jeez, I can tell you're okay."

Smiling sweetly at him, I wrapped him in a hug. "And don't you love it." As we walked through the halls and out into the yard – we were going to Starbucks, naturally – I asked Adam where my boyfriend was.

"I'm not sure; he texted me before telling me that you were still asleep. Not heard from him since then."

Frowning, I wondered where he was. Then I mentally slapped myself – no need to get all obsess-o over him. "I realised a few minutes ago that we had made promises to get lunch together, just the two of us. I know lunch was over a while ago, but you're skipping anyways."

"Is that your informal way of asking me if we're still on?"

"Yeah," I linked arms with him, "it is." We walked to the nearby cafe, ordering chicken paninis and glasses of milk.

"So, you sure you're feeling okay?" Adam asked, slurping his milk. "I don't want Jesse going all cave-man on me."

"I'm fine, Adam. Anyways, what have you been up to?" Way to change the subject, Suze.

"Er... not a lot; just, you know, this and that." Oh, he was _so _hiding something from me.

"This and that?" I repeated, eyebrows arched.

"Yeah," Adam said, scoffing down his Panini. "Just, you know, football and stuff." I noticed that whenever Adam lied, the words _you know _featured in his dialect.

"Adam, I know that you like football," I looked at him, blankly, "but, even you know that you don't spend that much time playing football."

Adam was quiet for a few minutes, and instantly I felt guilty – yeah, even if Adam was hiding something, I'm sure he'd eventually tell me...

"Adam." His head whipped up to look at me. "You don't have to tell me... it's fine."

He nodded, looking very serious and solemn. "Thanks Suze."

"It's cool." And just like that, the tension was lifted. "So, did you hear about..."

*****

I was walking through the park later that day; a trip to the park is something I love to do – it reminds me of my dad.

My phone chimed, bringing me out of my dad-related thoughts. "Hello?"

"Suzie!" It was Parker.

"Parker, hey!" It had been a while since we had spoken. Parker was definitely one friend that I didn't want to lose.

"I heard about your nasty tumble, you okay?"

"Yeah, Parker, I'm fine, thanks," I said, sitting on a nearby bench, "I'm sure it was a simple accident."

"Hmm... so, you heard the latest on Andre?" Parker asked me.

"No, what is it?"

"He's dating," he left a pause for dramatic effect, "Miss. Kelly Prescott."

"Ew, no way! Why?"

"No idea; he is into the materialistic girl."

"Gross. So what are you up to?"

"My mom wants us to have a family meal. We're just waiting on my dad to get home from work; I thought I'd give my best girl a ring."

"Aw." I smiled, even though he couldn't see me. "And you're my favourite guy – excluding Adam and Jesse."

"Eh, at least I'm in your best boys list."

Something had been bothering me for a while about Jesse; I decided to chance asking Parker.

"Park?"

"Yeah, Suze?"

"I have something to ask you – but don't feel that you _have _to answer. It'd be nice if you did, though."

"I'm not gay!" Parker whispered ferociously. "That's a stupid rumour that Taylor made up 'cos I told everyone he had herpes."

"Er, good to know – that isn't what I wanted to ask though," I said, bracing myself for what I was about to ask. I didn't want to sound as if I was snooping behind Jesse's back. "How did Jesse get his car? I mean, I know Jesse isn't poor or anything, but how can he afford his car? It looks super expensive."

"It is super expensive." Parker was quiet for a while, before answering: "I don't know if Jesse wants you to know this – if he does find out you know, try not to include my name into the equation, hun."

"Promise," I swore.

"Jesse and his mom... they're not that well off, as you know. Mrs de Silva always tries her best to give Jesse what he wants – but sometimes, the boy wants something crazily expensive. One thing that you should know about Jesse: when he wants something, he won't stop until he's got it; take you, for example. Anyways, he wanted that Audi for _ages. _He knew his mom couldn't afford it – and neither could he, with no job."

"What stupid thing did he do to get it?"

"He... well, Taylor and Andre, they're cousins, yeah?" Okay, I hadn't known that. "Taylor's dad owns a car lot – a car lot packed with Audis and BMWs and Mercedes. They pulled a few strings, got Jesse his car for like $1000." Wow.

"What was the catch?" I asked; there had to be one.

"Even though we're best mates and all that jazz, and even though they got him the deal 'cos we're best mates, they sometimes ask Jesse to do dumbass things – Jesse being Jesse, he doesn't back down from a dare."

"What kind of dumbass things?"

"Put it this way: in all the time he's had his car, Jesse's been arrested, done drugs, got shitfaced wasted... and that's putting it mildly."

What kind of boy was I dating?


	13. 013 You're a trainwreck

_Hey guys (: I'm super excited because I just booked my first driving lesson! Ooooh, I so know where I'm going with this story :} mwahaha!_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__I'm glad you loved it (: yeah, Taylor and Andre are idiots. I want Parker too :')_

_**vampirekisses1901 – **__Are you from the UK or USA? Just wanted to know if The Vampire Diaries aired the same programmes at the same time haha. _

_**ticklemecutie – **__haha, I think Suze has enough drama in her life without being pushed down stairs :') bad boys do have the sexy appeal, but they're hard work in the long run. Ah well._

_**jediahsokaroxx – **__haha, im glad you think so (:_

_**The Obsessive Book-aholc – **__here's the update (:_

_**TraylorxChaylor – **__No wayyyys. I don't think Ima put Parker with anyone; I'll be jealous haha. Errrr, I created him so I'M his best girl ;) lmao, Taylor, in my mind, actually looks like Taylor Lautner; just the evil version._

_**Dori-tori – **__Erm, I can't really add in a flashback as Suze only just found out that Jesse does drugs and stuff; I'll add in a scene where Suze catches him doing drugs, maybe?The climax is fasssst approaching but I will admit that the main part of the climax is none of the things you suggested – though some things do feature. I can guarantee that you'll hate Jesse though. I've had this planned for so long, mwa ha ha. He's not captain of no sports teams, he's not even really popular – he's just so hot which is why everyone loves him :') LMAO. Andre and Taylor are cousins haha, but originally I was thinking they could be gay haha. Sorry for the super long review!_

_**Max Payne – **__I know this is you, Anber. Parker's a babe._

**I dedicate this chapter to dori-tori for her super long review and her true love for this story :')**

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Demi Lovato.**

**013.**

_**You're a trainwreck.**_

I wanted to ask Jesse why, how, when he had gotten into all this... craziness. I couldn't understand why he would do this – and all for a car too! Honestly, was I dating such a materialistic boy? I knew calling him would do no good; I needed to bide my time and not just let my anger rule my judgement.

Apparently, my deep thoughts had carried onto the next day as many people had asked me if I was okay – Jesse included.

"Are you okay, Susannah?" Jesse asked, concern all over his rugged face.

"Yeah," I replied.

"You sure?" he asked me again, obviously not believing me.

I nodded, turning back to my textbook. I was doing my Chemistry homework – I should have done it the night before, but I was too busy being angry over a certain _someone_.

"Need some help with that?" Jesse asked me.

"No." I knew that I sounded like a bitch and like I had a problem with him, but I knew that any answers longer than two words would just result in a slanging match.

"Susannah... did I do something?" he asked me quietly. I turned to face him and my heart dropped; he looked so lost and helpless.

I sighed. "I'll, er, I'll see you later, okay." I quickly pecked him on the cheek before walking into the direction of the library. I knew that he'd soon follow me but, for now, I just wanted to sit in one of the comfy, plush couches and read a magazine or two. Unfortunately, I ran into the terrible twosome instead...

Andre and Taylor. _Just _what I needed right now.

"You okay?" Andre asked me, actually looking like he cared.

"Er... yeah," I replied, feeling a lot confused. "I'm just going to, er, finish my homework."

"Cool." Taylor smiled at me. "See you around."

"Bye?" I was way confused over what had just happened. Had Andre and Taylor just been nice to me? Yeah, my life was totally upside down lately.

I had walked into the library and just picked up _Us Weekly_, all ready to read about Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato finally getting together when I heard my boyfriend shout my name:

"Susannah!" I turned to find Jesse jogging up to me. "What did I do wrong? Just tell me."

I looked at him. "Can we talk about this somewhere more private?"

"Sure," he said, his face looking totally downcast.

We walked to the nearby Starbucks. All the way there, I was _aching _to hold his hand, to do anything that'd cheer him up.

"I'm not mad at you," I said, after we had taken our seats and bought our drinks. "I just – lately, I've found out some things about you and I don't know how to take it."

"Tell me."

"If you want me to tell you who told me, I won't because... well, I just won't. I heard that you're... well, that you're into all kinds of things – you've been arrested, you do drugs, you drink excessively. I mean, why? Why would you do this to yourself? And why didn't I know any of this? Just tell me one thing, and I'm really hoping that the person who told me was wrong, do you do any of that stuff?"

"Yes," he said simply, looking into my eyes.

"Right." I suddenly had no idea what to say; I chose to drink my hot chocolate instead.

"You're mad at me, right?"

"I don't _know_, okay. One thing I do know is that I don't know half of your life; you like to go out boozing and doing drugs and – that's not me!"

"Do you want me to stop?" Jesse asked, solemn expression upon that handsome face.

I nodded once. "Please."

Jesse came around the booth and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me on the top of my head. "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter – as long as you don't do it anymore."

"I promise."

*****

Suddenly, life got so much better – even Andre and Taylor kept up their happy act toward me. A little confusing, but whatever.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to come over." Jesse said, arms around my waist from behind.

"I'd love to." I turned in his arms and kissed him softly. "Oh, and Andy wanted me to invite you over for Sunday dinner; you must have impressed him if he's inviting you over on a Sunday."

"I'd love to." Jesse repeated my words, before taking my hands and leading me to his car.

I quickly texted Brad letting him know that I would be at Jesse's. I hadn't seen Jesse's mom in a while; I was rather looking forward to seeing her. She was a lovely woman.

"How's your mom?" I asked Jesse as we drove away from school in his Audi. I tried my best to not think about how Jesse had obtained this car.

"She's good," he smiled at me, squeezing my hand lightly.

We reached his house ten minutes later.

"Suze!" His mom beamed at me as I came in through the front door. "How are you, darling? It's been quite some time."

"Hi," I said, hugging her back, "I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm good, Suze. Just a little tired." She turned to Jesse. "I hope the two of you are hungry; unfortunately, I ordered from Dominos this time – work has been crazy."

"That's fine, really." I smiled at her before helping lay the table. A few seconds later, the doorbell rang and Jesse's mom went to answer the door.

"You're an angel, you know that," Jesse said, pecking me softly on the lips. "I'm so lucky to have you."

I stared at him. _How was he thinking that? It was more like the other way around. _"I'm the lucky one," I replied, putting my hands either side of his face. "I love you."

"I love you too, _querida_." I didn't get a chance to ask him what _querida _meant as his mom came in with the boxes of pizza – and later, Jesse's phone went off and, cryptically, he told me that he had to go somewhere but he promised he'd be back in half an hour, max.

"Boys, eh?" Mrs. de Silva said, sensing that I wasn't entirely happy with Jesse. Somehow, I had a feeling that it involved something bad – but he had promised. _Have more faith in him, Suze._ "Jesse's dad was exactly the same."

We talked for about an hour – the time soon came when Mrs. de Silva had to go to work though. She smiled apologetically at me. "Feel free to have something to eat or watch TV. Hey, why don't you go hang out in Jesse's room? He'll be coming soon, I'm sure."

I hung out in Jesse's room for a while, reading a book that had been left on his bed, logging onto my AIM, just doing things to pass the time.

My phone sounded, letting me know that I had a text message.

**susannah, im so sorry. im coming home now. i love you xxx**

"Where were you, Jesse?" I asked as he entered the house.

"I had to pick my friend up from the airport; his flight got delayed. I'm sorry." I shook my head and smiled at him; I immediately felt relieved and happy – my boyfriend had kept his promise to not drink or do drugs.

"I'd like you to meet my friend, Paul Slater."


	14. 014 How did you get here under my skin?

_So this is my first post as a 17 year old :)  
PS. Reviewers, where are you guys? :S_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**priyanka chopra – **__Anber, these names are lmao. Oh yeah, Akshay Kumar – what a 'hotty'. Don't you mean Kei-Kei ;) Suze doesn't know Paul before this, so naah. Hahaha, you make me laugh. Love yaaa._

_**jediahsokaroxx **__– haha, you shall find out (:_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__Yeah, something about Andre and Taylor isn't legit. Paul isn't a nasssty like he usually is. Hope you're having a nice time in South Africa! (Or are you back now?)_

_**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**_

**Song and title credit goes to Demi Lovato.**__

**014.**

_**How did you get here under my skin?**_

My boyfriend was definitely the hottest guy I had ever laid eyes on – but Paul was a serious contender. He had brown curls – I loved curly hair – and deep mahogany eyes.

"Hi," he said, smiling at me. Ooh, he had dimples!

"Hey," I said, smiling back. _Hello, hot boyfriend to your right; why are you admiring a different guy? _Feeling beyond guilty, I smiled at Jesse. "Could you drop me off home, please? It's getting kind of late."

"I'm sorry, Susannah," Jesse said, shrugging his jacket back on. "I didn't expect to take that long."

"It's fine, don't worry."

"I just need to go to my room for one minute." With that, Jesse left Paul and I alone.

"So, er, where are you from?" I asked Paul, trying not to stare at him for too hard.

"I'm from Florida." He smiled at me, teeth dazzling. "You're from here, obviously."

"Yeah. I've lived here all my life. So, are you here or for vacation or..."

"I just graduated; I went to a private school which is why I graduated a little early. I'm just taking a gap year and stuff. Thought I'd meet up with my main boy, Jesse."

"Oh, so you've known each for a while then?" It was strange that Jesse had never mentioned him. I had always just thought that Jesse's friends consisted of Parker, Guy, Taylor, Andre and other various guys.

"Yeah, we've known each other for a couple of years; our moms know one another," he said, flashing another white smile at me.

"You ready, Susannah?" Jesse asked, walking to us from his bedroom.

"Yeah," I replied. To Paul, "It was nice meeting you; take care."

"You too," he responded, sending me one more smile. "See you, Susannah."

Jesse and I walked out of the house, ready to get into Jesse's Audi. "Not so fast," I said, hugging him around the waist and breathing in his scent that was woody, musky and Axe-y. "We didn't get to spend any time alone, huh?"

"I'm sorry, _querida_," he replied, kissing the crown of my head gently. "I really am."

"It's okay, it's not your fault – wait, what does that word mean? _Querida?_" I was desperate to know.

"It means beloved or sweetheart."

"Really?" I hadn't been expecting that; to be honest, I wasn't sure what I was expecting.

Jesse nodded. "I really do love you."

"I love you." I leant up to kiss him. His lips were rough yet soft. I longed for more; pressing my mouth against him, I teased his lips with the tip of my tongue. A wolf-whistle interrupted our intimate moment. Reluctantly, I pulled away but kept a firm grip of my boyfriend.

"Do you lovers mind," Paul teased. "I'm trying to eat."

"Whatever," Jesse replied, capturing my lips with his own and taking us back to where we started off.

*****

"Brad, could you please lay the table?" my mom asked, serving the chicken roast onto the silver tray. "Jesse will be here any moment and the dining room looks like a bombsite."

"Sure," Brad said, putting down his PSP and disappearing into the dining room.

_Ding-dong. _The bell rang, indicating that Jesse was here. "I'll get it."

I opened the door, revealing a handsome guy dressed in a black shirt and black slacks. "Hi," I said, nearly melting over how delicious Jesse looked.

"Hi beautiful," Jesse took my hand and kissed it. I shook my head at the cheesiness of it but inside I was bursting with happiness – having a romantic boyfriend was every girl's dream; and here I was, living the dream.

"You look gorgeous," I blurted out, mentally slapping myself – who uses the word gorgeous to describe a _male_?!

Jesse's lips turned up slightly. "Thank you; though I think that should be my line. _You _look beautiful." I was only dressed in a simple cotton sundress but Jesse made me feel like I was in some Armani cocktail dress, ready to walk down the infamous red carpet.

We entered the dining room and took our seats; I was sat next to Jesse at the end. Throughout the full duration of our meal, Jesse kept slyly finding ways to touch me: a brush of our hands, a clash of our legs, a hand on my thigh. And that hand was slowly making little circles into my dress; I was finding it harder and harder to concentrate.

"What do you think, Suze?" Brad asked me, looking at me weirdly. "It's not like you to be so quiet when we're discussing Zac Efron."

"Why are you discussing Zac Efron?" I asked, puzzled. My family were totally weird.

"Have you not been listening _at all_?" Jake asked suspiciously – these overprotective brothers needed to calm down on the whole Spanish Inquisition.

"I had... other things to think about." I put my hand over Jesse's who, being stronger and all, managed to pin my hand under his and still draw those damn circles. "Like, er, school and stuff. But I so agree that Zac Efron is hot." A glance to my right. "Sorry."

Jesse smiled shrewdly at me. "No problem." The circle-drawing intensified.

Oh vey.

*****

_We were running through a beautiful spring meadow; his arm wrapped around me securely. The scene was truly romantic: perfect for the two of us._

"_I love you," I said to my boyfriend, squeezing his hard bicep._

"_I love you." His face came into view before blurring as his lips drew closer to mine._

_Inevitably, our lips met and he kissed me in the most breathtaking way._

I awoke with a gasp. _Why _was I dreaming about kissing Paul Slater?

This. Was. Not. Good.


	15. 015 I want to make her mine

_Shawty is a eenie-meenie minie mo lova 3 _

_I dedicate this chapter to my _**little sister**_** Anber**__, for ALWAYS reviewing just because I make her :) & __**vampirekisses1901**__ who gave me the chapter title (:_

_**Thanks to: **_

_**sonu nigam **__– i don't know why im not getting a lot. oh well, haha. _

_**ticklemecutie – **__aha, thank you!_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__lmao, i don't like Nick Jonas anymore! You know the likes of Zac Efron and the Vampire Diaries boys are more my type ;) aw, thank you!_

_**vampirekisses1901 – **__aw, don't worry; at least you reviewed huh :) yeah, i think she will be confused over Paul, as she already is. Haha, bad boys are especially yummy. I think i'll use those lyrics for this chapter – but keep it Suze's p.o.v (: cooool haha; i love when other UK fans read my story!_

_**Grace – **__hey, new reader (: here's the update!_

_**dori-tori – **__aha, dw; school can be a pain, i understand. Jesse does feel bad, but then it couldn't be helped. She's just been thinking about Paul, and so she dreamt of him. Adammmm – you got it ;) no, this is the mediator where she can't see ghosts. Thank you! & yes, im 17 – i can now drive! I'm from the UK; you? _

**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**

**Song and title credit goes to Rick Springfield; vampirekisses1901 gave me this idea (: thanks!**

**Chapter title is in Paul's P.O.V; the chapter itself is in Suze's. **

**015. **

_**Jesse's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine.**_

I awoke to a text from Adam, asking if he could carpool with me today. I agreed, of course, having not seen my best friend for ages, except for the fleeting hi/bye. Having a boyfriend really occupied my time, but Adam was always number one; he had been there for me when I had needed him.

"Hello," I said, beaming at him as he climbed into my car. "I missed you!" I nearly throttled him with my tight hug.

He chuckled, and hugged me back just as fiercely. "Same, I've just been so busy with football, and other stuff. You?"

"Jesse. And just other boring stuff that I can't seem to recall." Adam and I chatted all the way to school; however, when we passed by Kelly, Cee and the other minions, he was instantly quiet. "You okay?" I asked, noticing – but not commenting – on the way his eyes lingered on Cee, who was looking more and more natural every day.

She used to wear the shortest shorts and the tightest tees and combine the two with a face full of makeup. She looked more hooker, less teenage girl at school. Now, her hair was back to its natural straightness, rather than being curled tightly every day; and her clothes were more suitable – today, she was sporting a pair of skinny jeans, a white tee and a long, sleeveless cardigan that, if we were still friends, I would definitely borrow.

"Yeah," Adam said, breaking out of whatever trance had a hold of him. "Oh, there's Jesse." I knew it was a change of subject, but Jesse was stood there and I felt so guilty over my _stupid _dream that Adam's unusual behaviour was forgotten.

I rushed into Jesse's arms, loving the warmth that emanated from him. "Hello to you too," Jesse said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, wrapping my arms around him tighter. "I just, I don't know."

"You sure you're okay?" Jesse asked me, concern apparent in his voice.

"Yeah, just ignore me; I'm being a total girl."

"I should hope so." Jesse took my hand and led me to homeroom; Adam was chatting with Parker. "Otherwise, I'd be dating a guy, and I don't really think of guys like that."

"You loser," I said, hitting him in the stomach lightly. "Are you doing anything tonight? We didn't have a chance to be together on Friday – and don't apologize, because it's not like it was your fault."

He groaned. "But, it was. Anyway, Paul and I were gonna go for a meal to catch up and that – but you should definitely come."

As if. The one boy that I wanted to _not _see was going to a meal with my boyfriend, and my boyfriend was inviting me along. "You know what, you boys should go hang out; you and I can go out any other time."

"_Querida, _I want you to join me and my friend for a meal so I can show you off," he teased me, pecking me on the cheek to inadvertently tell me he was joking.

"What does _querida _mean? You always call me that."

"It means beloved or sweetheart – of which you are both." He so knew the way to a girl's heart, and that was why I agreed to go on the stupid meal with stupid Paul and my not-so-stupid boyo.

I wanted to look nice, but not overdone. I chose a black dress and my black gladiators, putting my hair into a messy ponytail. Jesse said that he would pick me up in his car; I presumed that Paul would be in the car too.

A knock on the door alerted me that the two were here. Adjusting my dress, I told my mom that I was going now and that I'd see her later.

Jesse was stood in the doorway, looking as handsome as ever in a black cashmere sweater, his favourite pair of jeans and black boots. "I like your boots," I said, as he kissed me hello. "They make you look very masculine and rugged."

"Am I not already?" he asked me, mock-pouting. "You look gorgeous, as always."

Paul was sitting in the passenger seat but, on seeing me, got out. "Hello." He smiled at me. "Why don't you sit at the front?"

"It's okay, seriously; you sit at the front." Jesse was already in the car, waiting for one of us to get in the front seat.

"No, really, you can."

"Fine," I said, smiling at how charming he was – not as charming as Jesse, though.

"Where we headed off to?" I asked Jesse as I put on my seatbelt.

"The Forge in the Forest," Jesse answered. "You've been there before?"

"Yeah, I went with Adam once."

"Oh, was Adam an ex?" Paul asked. Okay, why randomly jump into our conversation?

I scoffed. "No, he's my best friend. I could never date him; it'd be like dating my brother."

Paul asked _endless _questions about my life all the way there. I was a little freaked over the never-ending questions, but Jesse seemed to be amused so I just answered them.

We eventually got to the restaurant, Jesse and I holding hands and Paul walking alongside us. I hoped that he didn't feel like the third wheel. Even though Cee and Adam weren't dating I had always felt like the odd one out – it had been so obvious that they liked each other back then. And now, who knew?

Jesse ordered the special for us all, which was delicious. Dessert was equally scrumptious, a whole blend of chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dream.

"I'll pay," Jesse offered, as I polished off dessert. "I'd pay for Susannah anyways, and it's your first time here... so my treat." Paul offered to pay himself, but Jesse – the sweetheart gentleman that he was – said, again, that it was his treat.

Whilst Jesse went to pay, Paul told me that I looked stunning. "You always do, to be honest."

"Er, thanks." I wasn't entirely sure what to say back. Yeah, I was flattered but Jesse was my boyfriend.

"So, how long you and Jesse been together?" he asked, casually.

"It's been three months and two days." I had been counting it on my Zac Efron calendar. Ah, Zac Efron; sweet, sweet boy. "Are you dating anyone?"

"No," he answered. "I was, but then... it's complicated, you know."

"Oh, of course!" I said, feeling a little guilty. "I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't sweat it," he replied, smiling his signature smirk on me. My, he had pretty dimples.

Jesse returned with a smile on his face, and I instantly felt guilty – yeah, I was only 'observing' Paul but Jesse didn't even notice girls, let alone check them out.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded yes, standing up and entwining our hands. "Why don't you come back to mine after?" I asked Jesse in a quiet murmur. "That is, if you and Paul don't have plans. Oh, but then it's rude to leave Paul too."

"I'll come over," Jesse said, smiling at my babbling. "Paul's decided to stop at a hotel – I tried to tell him it was cool to stay at mine, but he said what with me going to school and all..."

"Yay," I whispered, hugging him to my side briefly.

We dropped Paul off at the hotel that he was staying at. I was so excited to spend a little one on one time with Jesse; it had been so long – and I knew for a fact that no one was home tonight: my mom and Andy were at their monthly dinner date, David was at science camp with school and my other brothers/bodyguards were at some party.

I dragged Jesse by the hand up to my room; I don't know why but tonight felt like the night to go all the way. I had had sex once before with a boy named Javier whom I had met when we were vacationing in the Bahamas one time ; I hadn't regretted it as such but I had wished that it had been more than just a fumbling first time.

Jesse sat on my bed, looking all kinds of sexy lounging on my bed. He patted the space next to him. "Come here." He opened up his arms, which I willingly nestled into. Kissing the top of my forehead, he told me that he loved me.

"I love you too," I murmured against his neck, showering it with kisses. "I just – I know this is going to sound so pathetic but I'm so glad that I have you. You're just... everything to me."

There was silence for a minute or so. Feeling totally embarrassed, I kept my head buried in his neck. "Really?" Jesse asked in a choked voice. I looked up at him – well, that _wasn't _the reaction I was expecting. Jesse looked totally dejected, like someone had told him that his Audi was going to get crushed.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, feeling really panicked.

"Yeah, just – just ignore me." Jesse said, his voice suddenly sounding composed. "I don't deserve you." He untangled our bodies, kissing me once on the forehead before leaving without a word.


	16. 016 Like a scared little boy

_NO MORE EXAMS (:  
the climax of the story is kicking off, guys ;)_

_**& a big thank you to everyone who's read this story, reviewed this story, added it to their favourites, added **_**me **_**to their favourites or even for just looking at it. I love you all!**_

_**Thanks to:**_

_**jediahsokaroxx – **__you'll find out why he left SOON (:_

_**ticklemecutie – **__they won't break up...yet. If they do at all. Hmm... (don't tell anyone but you got most of my plotline right haha.)_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__we all know of your love for hot Latino's ;) I know haha, it just seems so relevant to put OUR conversations in, you know. I'm sure more snippets will pop up in this update :) love you!_

_**dciggas – **__I know this is you, Anber :') lmao, shut up haha. She's a dedicated fan – unlike you, who I have to beg to review lmao._

_**MisticStar – **__your well-awaited update is here; sorry for the wait!_

_**dori-tori – **__haha, well I hope you'll be shockedshockedshocked when you find out what Jesse is up to! (:_

_**kirsty – **__here's the update – and thank you very much (:_

**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**

**Song and title credit goes to zee lavly TSwizzle.**

**016.**

_**Was I out of line? Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide like a scared little boy?**_

His lips were attacking mine like I was the oxygen and he was desperate to breath. I separated our lips, only to pull his white tee off fiercely. He peppered my shoulder with kisses. Sitting up, I tried to regain my breath, eyes roaming all over his perfect body. His abs were perfect.

I noticed the tattoo above his left hipbone – the black inky letters that spelled out 'Machetes'.

"What's that?" I asked in a breathy voice. "I didn't know you had a tattoo."

Jesse stopped his savage attack on my collarbone, tensing before pulling away from me. "Oh, it's nothing. Just, er, something I got when I was drunk one time."

"It's hot," I replied, kissing his tanned muscled shoulder.

Jesse pulled even further from me, throwing his white tee back on. My eyebrows furrowed unintentionally._ Had I done something wrong?_

"What's the matter?" I asked, releasing my doubts into the tense air and wishing I could snatch them right back up.

"Nothing," Jesse countered, running a hand through his hair. "I just remembered something. Be right back." He pecked my forehead, before running out of his room. I heard the front door to Jesse's house slam shut and then the rev of his Audi.

I sighed, untangling my hair with my fingers and trying to ignore the tingling feeling on my bruised lips. It seemed that whenever we came close to anything intimate he'd run off.

I walked out of Jesse's room and into the living room, flopping down on the comfy couch. Paul walked out of the kitchen few moments later, carrying a Pepsi can in his hand. "Want a soda?" he asked.

"Nah. I'm good, thanks." Really, I was far from good. I felt _rejected. _Jesse was a guy, for freakin' sake! He should want me!

"You okay?" Paul asked. "I asked you where Jesse was three times."

"Oh, I was just... thinking." _About my stupid boyfriend, who doesn't seem to understand that I'm handing myself to him on a plate. _"Jesse went out, somewhere."

"Somewhere?" Oh, this boy didn't miss a trick. Why was he here anyway? Jesse and I had been making out; Ms. de Silva was at work. Was he a voyeur?

"Yeah," I retorted, a little harsher than I intended to be. "So – not to sound rude or anything – but why are you here? I mean, Jesse and I were... discussing, erm, school matters and his mom's at work."

"Right, studying..." he said, smirking at me in an I-don't-believe-you way. "Didn't Jesse tell you that I'm staying here until September? My hotel was racking up a huge bill." He gestured to the couch. "This is my bed for the next couple months."

"Really?" This was not good.

"Yeah," he replied to my question that didn't really need an answer. "So, you got any plans for the upcoming weekend?" Today was Wednesday; I had popped over to Jesse's after a boring day at school.

"Hanging out with Jesse, have a few friends over; I'll wing it. You?"

"There's a fair on on Friday. I was wondering if you and Jesse wanted to go; a few of my friends are coming too. Whaddya think?"

"That actually sounds really good." I contemplated it for a moment, before answering for Jesse and myself. "Yeah, we'll come along. Definitely."

There was something off about Cee.

Whenever I looked up in class, she was staring at me or Adam. Whenever I looked up in the canteen, she was staring at me or Adam. Oh, and she kept glaring at Jesse and his friends.

"She's doing it again," I whispered to Parker, who was inconspicuously checking out a girl in tight leather pants. Really, who even wears tight leather pants to school? How she sat down was beyond me.

"Doing what?" he asked, finally tearing his gaze away from Leather Chick's butt.

"Staring at me; glaring at you. It's freaking me out!"

"She's just jealous that you're hanging out with me," he said, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"Then wouldn't she be glaring at me?"

"Err, she's obviously mad that I'm not hanging out with her, so is glaring at me," Park said, giggling – yes, giggling – as he said so.

"Sssh! You're making it totally obvious that we're talking about her."

Five minutes passed – I was pretending to read a magazine but was inconspicuously watching Cee, who hadn't stop glaring at Parker in all that time.

"Suze! I'm bored," Parker whined in my ear. "Let's go do something. Anything. Please."

"Fine," I retorted, dropping my magazine back in my bag. "Should we go to Starbucks?"

"We always do that. Let's go hang out with my guys."

I nodded and walked away with Parker – I didn't fail to notice Cee looking totally distraught as I walked away from the recreation lounge. I'd have to mention her weird behaviour with Adam.

Park and I began to walk to the field where all of Jesse's friends hung out, when they either had a free period or were skipping lesson. Most of them were skipping lesson.

Jesse was stood with his friends, leaning against a tree. He spotted me and stood up straight, smiling as I walked up to him.

"Hey," I said, kissing his cheek briefly. "Shouldn't you be in English?"

"Didn't fancy it," he shrugged. "You?"

"I've got a free." Leaning against him, I yawned. "I'm so tired. I couldn't sleep last night, _at all_."

"You okay?" Jesse asked, tipping my face toward his.

"Yeah, I'm just shattered. I'm so ready for this day to end so I can sleep."

"Well, we only have Chemistry after this. Wanna skip?"

"Jesse!" I reprimanded him. "You've already skipped English."

"Come on, _querida_. It's Chemistry – all we're doing is reviewing genetics." True... and he did use _querida _on me.

"Fine." To Parker, who was already smoking: "I'm going home; we're going to skip Chemistry."

He nodded, and waved me goodbye. I heard him yell out to us as we walked to Jesse's Audi, "No getting freaky all night, 'kay?"

Embarrassed, I mentally groaned and chose to ignore Parker's 'funny' comment; thankfully, Jesse did the same.

"Wanna come to mine?" Jesse asked, as we climbed into his beautiful car.

"I guess." I proceeded to tell him all about Cee's weird behaviour as we drove to his house. Jesse replied that he had no idea why she kept glaring at him, either.

I was practically stumbling with fatigue by the time we had reached Jesse's place. Jesse gripped my elbow. "Come on, you can sleep in my bed."

Crashing onto Jesse's bed, I allowed him to slip me under the covers and join me. "Go to sleep now, Susannah."

I would have possibly tried to tempt Jesse if I hadn't been so tired; instead, I slept.

A good two hours later I awoke to an empty bed. However, Jesse hadn't done a bail on me. He was sat at the edge of the bed, head in his hands.

"Jesse," I said, my voice groggy. "What's the matter?" I scooted over to him, relaxing the tense muscles in his shoulders.

He started at the sound of my voice. "It's nothing, Susannah. I'm just a little stressed."

"You can tell me anything, you know," I said, leaning my head on his broad shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, gripping my hand tightly. "Should we go get something to eat?"

It was only after he had dropped me off home that I recalled that he hadn't answered my question.

It was then that I knew he was keeping something big from me, something that could potentially ruin us.

Friday came quicker than I expected, and for that I was thankful. Not so much for the weekend, but more for the fair that Paul had invited Jesse and I to.

As it was a simple affair I simply wore my skinny jeans, white tee and navy blue cardigan. Jesse wore his black jeans and a white tee, with a bandana wrapped around his head.

"I like this new look of yours," I said, squeezing his arm as we walked behind Paul and some other random guys.

"You do?" he asked, puzzled. "I didn't think you would."

"Yeah. You look all... bad boy. Or gang boy."

Jesse smiled slightly at me, before leading us over to the candyfloss stand.

A half hour later saw us on the ferris wheel; the two of us had finally gotten some alone time. I was snuggled into the crook of Jesse's arm. "This is nice," I said, relishing in the view of our town and the smell of Jesse and the overall feeling of being warm, safe and happy.

Jesse tipped my chin up with two of his fingers, staring into my eyes deeply. "I love you." He proceeded to kiss me, leaving me breathless.

We got off the ferris wheel ten minutes later, a hand holding, love shaped twosome. "Where should we go now, _querida_?"

I was speechless. I didn't even know what Jesse had said.

"Susannah?"

How did I not see it?

"Susannah!"

Because Adam and Cee were making out in that dark corner.


	17. 017 Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare

_Sorry for the ultra long wait! But, here I am to update (:  
I can't believe there are 16 chapters, wow. This chapter is short, but it has to be – any longer and the story would be coming to an end very quickly..._

_**Thanks to:**_

_**..Me – **__here's the update; sorry to tease you haha._

_**ticklemecutie – **__ya know, it's crazy how you've been with me all the way through my stories. Did you read CCL aswell at the same time I wrote it? Sorry to update so slowly, so here ya go (:_

_**jediahsokaroxx – **__haha, Adam and Cee have been deceiving everyone for a loooong time._

_**dori-tori – **__hello (: you are correct; Suze is missing out on something massive! Sorry the update wasn't ASAP – far from it tbh, oops – but here it is (:_

_**CupcakeSweetheart – **__aha, Jesse has a secret ;) I'm dreading results day, Beth! Love youuu plenty (:_

_**jessicam424 – **__here's the update; sorry it took so long :(_

_**TraylorxChaylor – **__hey stranger, I haven't spoken to you in ages (: lemme know how you are! Aah, Jesse's hiding something from Suze to protect her – sorta. (:_

_**kimmi0490 – **__here's the next chapter (:_

**Disclaimer - Most of the characters were the sole idea of Meg Cabot. I am merely using them for an entertainment purpose. This is also the same for recognisable brands etc. However, anything else that you don't recognise - the story plotline, for example - will probably be mine.**

**Song and title credit goes to Beyonce. If you like Sweet Dreams, then go check out Tiffyiffyiffy on YouTube. She killed this song!**

**017. **

_**Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare.**_

I stared at the two in disbelief, feeling immensely hurt. Adam _knew_ what Cee had meant to me – and how I'd felt after she'd betrayed us. I turned away, ignoring Jesse who was asking me if I was okay. I had thought that when Cee had betrayed me that that had hurt. What Adam did hurt so much more. It wasn't so much that he'd gone and dated Cee behind my back; no, if he was happy with her then I was happy. It was more the fact that he'd lied to me all these times and kept me in the dark. That _wasn't _what best friends did.

"Susannah?" I heard Jesse's voice once more and then felt his hand on my elbow, guiding me toward a bench. "What's the matter?"

I said nothing, choosing to hug him. After a few minutes of silence I spoke up, "You'd never hurt me, would you, Jesse?"

I expected a _no, of course not, querida, _straight away. Instead he stiffened underneath my touch. "Not if I could help it," came his cryptic response.

I wasn't really sure what to make of that, but I was – hoping – that meant that he wouldn't hurt me. I squeezed his thigh gently. "Let's get something to eat."

Jesse leapt off the bench, taking my hand. "Where do you want to eat?"

"I was thinking here; just grab a hot dog or something."

"No, no. I want to take you somewhere proper." He began walking me to his car. "There's an awesome spot we can go to. And we don't need to dress up." I smiled at him – he was a right sweetheart. We got into his car, Jesse linking our fingers straight away. "_Querida_, give Adam a chance, hmm." I'd thought that Jesse hadn't noticed why I was so upset, but seemingly he had done. "Sometimes – the ones you love get hurt unintentionally. And you wish things could be different, but they can't be."

"Jesse?" He was making no sense.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just getting a little carried away." He cleared his throat. "Ignore me."

I didn't want to question him; he seemed a little hesitant at something. I just squeezed his hand tighter, letting the silence comfortably engulf us.

We reached our destination ten minutes later. I had never been to this part of town before, not feeling the need to do so. I would have also walked right past the eatery if Jesse hadn't been with me. It was a small hut, enclosed between two modern buildings. It looked rather small and quaint but, after we'd stepped inside, it was a lot bigger.

"How did you find this place? It's so cute."

Jesse laughed. "When I need to think, I come here."

An elderly woman walked over, apron slung over her petite frame. "Jesse de Silva!" She hugged him in a motherly embrace. "I haven't seen you in a while. How's your mother?" Jesse answered, and then she noticed me – stood behind Jesse, hands entwined with his. "And who is this beautiful, young lady?"

I smiled shyly. "I'm Susannah Simon, Jesse's girlfriend."

The lady gasped, swatting Jesse with a tea towel. "Why have I never been informed about this lovely girl?" To me, "I'm Olivia; I own this place."

She led us over to a booth, complete with red and white chequered tablecloths on the tables. Jesse excused himself to the bathroom. "How did you meet Jesse?" I asked Olivia, politely.

"Oh, Jesse's been coming here for over a year now. He was a sweetheart when I first met him, and still is now, despite some of the bad things that have been inflicted upon him."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean by bad things?"

"Oh, I'm sure you know all about Jesse's ini-" She was cut off by Jesse clearing his throat loudly; it seemed he had returned from the bathroom.

"Could we order please?" His tone of voice was polite, but distant; not as embracing as it had been to Olivia just minutes ago. I wondered what Olivia was going to say.

Jesse ordered chicken fajitas for us both, along with a pitcher of lemonade: very old school, I thought wryly.

Jesse and I chatted aimlessly whilst waiting for our food to be served. A girl around our age served us our food, waggling her hips when she caught sight of Jesse. "Is there _anything _else you'd like, sir?" she asked, bending down a little to reveal her cleavage. Pur-lease.

"No, thank you," Jesse replied tersely. She stood rooted to the spot, gazing at Jesse, when he turned to her once more. "We're fine, thanks." His tone was clipped. I didn't ever want to be on the receiving end of that tone. The waitress pouted and walked off; I noticed, gladly, that she'd lost the hip swagger.

"Jesse?" I asked cautiously. "Are you... okay?"

He looked up at me, eyes blazing. "What?"

I swallowed. "You don't – you seem really agitated." His gaze softened. "You're, sort of, scaring me." I whispered this last part, more to myself.

"I am? Susannah, I'm sorry." He grabbed my hand. "I don't... I have a lot on my mind." He suddenly smiled at me. "Let's just eat; I'll enjoy this evening with my _stunning_ girlfriend."

I smiled back – but I knew something was up with Jesse. And I was going to find out what.

I was waiting for Adam to just tell me about him and Cee; instead, he'd use the football excuse time and time again.

"So, Adam, erm, you remember Stacy? The one you had that tiny crush on a couple months back?" I had honestly thought he'd moved on from Cee when he told me that information. "I heard she wouldn't mind going on a date with you. I think you should too – she's really pretty and sweet. What's not to like?" Okay, I was totally lying but if Adam actually agreed to a date with Stacy, I'm sure I'd find a way for that date to happen.

"Erm," Adam looked totally panicked, "I'm focusing on football, right now. You know how I want a scholarship in it."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Lies, again and again. Only Jesse's soothing touch on my knee was preventing me from blurting out that I knew Adam's secret. But why wouldn't he tell me?

I had to dig deeper. "Is that _CeeCee _sat on Joe's lap?" Adam whirled his head around. "Oh, my bad," I scoffed. "It's just Kelly. They look so alike that I just can't tell."

Jesse patted my knee, his way of telling me to stop. Adam fell for this trap though. "Come on, Suze," he nervously laughed. "They look nothing alike. Kelly's a lot faker than Cee."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I mean, Cee's still blonde – like she used to be – and sure, she straightens her hair all the time, but she's nothing like Kelly. For one, her clothes are a lot less tight and she's not as superficial as everyone makes out." He cleared his throat. "At least, er, that's what, erm, Danny told me. You know Danny, right? Danny from football?"

I shook my head at him, answering his question and feeling appalled at my best friend. It seemed that everyone around me had some secret – and they weren't sharing.

I resumed eating my pasta; honestly, I gave the boy an opening and he couldn't even take it.

"You okay?" Jesse whispered in my ear, loud enough for me to hear but too low for anyone else to hear.

I nodded my head and took a swig from my water bottle. Even Jesse was keeping something from me; something bad too. I was his girlfriend, the girl he loved, so what was he hiding from me and why?

"You know, I just remembered," I said to the table, slapping my forehead dramatically, "I totally haven't done my Chemistry homework."

"We didn't have Chemistry homework," Parker retorted. "...Wait, did we?"

"Did I say Chemistry? I meant Biology." I grabbed my bag and water bottle; the pasta could stay where it was – it was gross anyway. "Okay, bye."

I walked to the library. I didn't have homework to do but, right now, all I wanted was to curl up in an armchair and read a magazine. I had just sat in my favourite armchair – the purple one by the window – when I felt someone sit on the armchair next to mine.

"I know you saw us that day." I turned to see who'd said those words and nearly keeled over from shock.

CeeCee Webb was willingly talking to me. I think Hell just froze over.


	18. 018 Breathing in, breathing out

I'm so, so, so, so sorry that I've taken so long to update; I don't even have a legitimate excuse! I could bore you all with the details of how I've been revising for upcoming exams, how I've been busy with certain things, how I'm never home long enough to update... but I won't. Even though I just did :}  
Butttttt, and I'm sorry in advance, don't expect frequent updates - I hope they won't take as long as this one did, but I have exams coming up which will ultimately determine whether I'll get into university. Eeep!  
Take this chapter as my apology!

**Thanks to:**

**jediahsokaroxx - **sorry for the slow update :( here's the chapter though!

**dori-tori - **hmm, Suze is going to be angry, but she's got a right to be sad when all the drama unfolds hehe. CeeCee's going to be alright now :) sorry for the slow update!

**kimmi0490 - **thanks, and here's the update (:

**K-MC-N-Z-27 - **unfortunately Jesse's secret is pretty much relationship-threatening :/ boys, eh? ;)

**jessicam242 - **here's the update (:

**ShortieCake105 - **aw, thankyou very much (: hehe, Brad was always my favourite brother, so I wanted to portray him as all sweet etc. You're clooose haha :)

**ticklemecutie - **Cee is going to be all 'sorry sorry and stuff' but there's also something else that she's going to tell Suze; which is going to be mentioned in this hehe ;) the update wasn't soon, but here it is (:

**Lucy - **you're very close to guessing the plot - but not all of it (:

**CupcakeSweetheart - **hiya :) hehe, Jesse's secrets are going to come out, slowly slowly. erm, sorry it took me so long.

**TwiHeartVick 101 - **hehe, glad you enjoy (:

**TraylorxChaylor - **Hello lovely (: PM me hehe.

**Song and title credit goes to Selena Gomez.**

**018.**

**I'm breathing in, breathing out; ain't that what it's all about?**

"I know you saw me with Adam that day," Cee explained, a sheepish look upon her face. "Please don't be mad at Adam; he really wanted to tell you."

"So then why didn't he?"

"It was me." Cee avoided my gaze, studying her manicured hands instead. "I knew you wouldn't be happy with him. Plus, I just... with Adam, it felt like... like, things had never changed..."

"_You're _the reason things 'changed'. Now, if you don't mind, I'd rather be left alone."

"But..."

"But what? You thought things would be that simple; you'd come and talk to me and that'd be it; we'd be friends?"

Her silence spoke a thousand words. I shook my head, and grabbed my bag. Rising from my seat, I felt a pang in my heart. I wished I could tell Cee about my fears, have a girl friend - someone who could understand me. It didn't stop me from leaving though...

So, the cafeteria was out; the library was out. Where else could I go? Somewhere that I wouldn't be interrupted. This called for sitting in the bathroom, à la Cady Heron.

Locking the cubicle door behind me, I sat on the toilet and rested my chin in my hands. The biggest thought invading my head was what Jesse was hiding from me, and why. My second thought was why Adam hadn't told me; if what CeeCee had said - and I was doubting whatever came out of her mouth - was true, then I felt like the _worst _friend ever. Life was way too into the drama right now. Also, why, _why_ the sudden turnaround in Andre and Taylor's behaviour. Weird.

The bell rang forty minutes later. Have you ever spent forty minutes locked in a bathrom cubicle thinking of the bad, sad things in your life? I was pretty much depressed when I went to Drama. Huh, ironic.

Thankfully, there was no Jesse, Adam, Cee, Taylor or Andre in my drama class. Only Kelly; but we pretty much kept out of each other's way... generally. Today was a total different issue.

"Suze," Kelly said to me, sly smile plastered on her face. "How's it going with Jesse?"

I looked at her, and wondered what she knew that I didn't. Why would she ask out of curiosity? She wasn't _nice_.

"We're doing great, thanks. You and Andre?"

"Oh, no. Me and Andre are just hanging out. We're not s_erious _like you and Jesse."

"What's that supposed to mean? Why the emphasis on serious?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Whatever, Kelly. Quit wasting my time."

By the end of Drama - and the end of the school day - it went without saying that I was royally pissed. I power-walked out of the lesson, nearly breaking into a full sprint when I spotted my trusty VW. I sped off, wanting my bed really bad - and a tub of Ben & Jerry's wouldn't go amiss.

I was practically drooling at the thought of Phish Food and its deliciousness; I wasn't expecting Paul to be sat on the couch, laughing and joking with my mom. "Paul?" I asked, voicing my confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Suze!" My mom hissed, giving me her 'don't be rude' stare.

"It's fine," Paul said, laughing off what I had just said. "I came to see you; it's been a while, and Jesse's never home long enough for me to suggest we hang out."

I tried to telepathically tell my mom to go away, but she was having none of it. "Mom, why don't you get Paul a drink?"

"Oh, he has one, dear." She pointed at his can of soda, which I promptly gulped down.

"Man, am I thirsty!" I ignored the horrified look on my mom's face; no doubt she was wishing I had better manners. "Oh, was that yours? Mom..." Finally, she took the hint and left, grumbling about how her daughter had no manners.

"Hmm, sorry about that." I sat down next to Paul. Despite being in love with Jesse - even if he was an absolute moron at times - I couldn't help but admire the way Paul's polo clung to his lean torso. "So, you were saying..."

"Right." He flashed a smile at me. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out? It's been a while since I last saw Jesse and you. I thought we'd grab a bite to eat."

I agreed with him. It was so strange; there was something about Paul and being in his presence which had calmed me down. Strange, very strange. We chatted for a while, before he left, promising to set up a date for the three of us to eat, chat etc.

After he left, I made pasta; only my mom and I were home tonight so I thought I'd give her a break. I then went up to my room, got my cell and dialled Jesse's number. Why hold a grudge against him? I'm sure he had a perfectly good explanation to his strange behaviour.

His phone rang for two minutes. I put it down, and left him a message telling him to call me.

By midnight, I had received no text. And I knew for a fact that Jesse never left his damn phone alone.

I got a phone call back as I was getting into the car. "Hello?"

"_Querida_, hey." Jesse's voice sounded luxorious and smooth, velvety over the phone line. "Sorry for only just calling you back. I had a ton of sleep to catch up on; I was in bed for half nine."

"Are you okay?" It wasn't like Jesse to be in bed by half nine. It was rare for him to be at home at half nine.

"Yeah, life's just catching up on me, I guess. Where are you, _Querida_?"

"I'm still at home," I said.

"I'm coming for you, okay. Two minutes. I love you." He hung up, and left me feeling a lot happier with the world. That boy.

True to his word, two minutes later his Audi was pulling into my driveway. Jesse got out of his car, coming over to me to give me a kiss. I kissed him with as much fever as could be permitted outside of my own house. "I missed you," I muttered against his mouth.

"It was only yesterday that I last saw you," he replied, chuckling.

"I know... but, I was a bit of a bitch to you. I'm sorry." I hugged him fiercely, before grabbing his hand. "Let's go. Don't want to be late."

We sat in the car in a companionable silence, even though I was desperate to ask him what was on his mind. It was apparent to see that he was feeling slightly tense by the way he kept rubbing his forehed with the plam of his hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked Jesse, looking at him with concern. "You seem agitated, honey."

He turned and smiled softly at me. "I'm okay, just tired." He squeezed my hand, before letting go as he parked the car.

I got out of the car, spotting CeeCee with Adam. I guessed that the two of them were no longer keeping their relationship secret. Adam caught my eye, smiling grimly at me; he never had talked to me about him and Cee. I turned to Jesse, watching as he groggily made his way over to me. "You seriously need to stop whatever stuff you're doing that's making you exhausted," I said with concern, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I will," he replied, both of us knowing full well that he had no intentions to do so. He was sometimes so frustrating, making me feel so confused. "I'll walk you to homeroom." As we walked to homeroom together, Jesse's arm securely around my shoulders, I noticed Kelly giggling at something that Andre had said, before looking at the two of us and bursting out into full-fledged laughter.

"What's that all about?" I asked, nudging my head in their direction. "They're just stood there laughing at us."

"No idea," Jesse replied gruffly. "Just ignore them. It's just Kelly messing about." Huh, messing about. She was a grade A cow. She didn't know the meaning of messing about - it was either be a bitch or be a cow; no in between.

We reached my homeroom, stopping outside of the door. "I'll see you later," I said, leaning up for a kiss. Just as our lips were about to meet, a wolf whistle pierced my ears. It was Andrew, leaning against the door, a wicked smile on his lips. "Carry on," he said, gesturing to the two of us with his hands. "I don't mind a free show."

"Idiot," I said fondly, before grabbing Jesse's head for a quick kiss. "I'll see you in Chemistry," I said to my beau, before kissing him once more. He smiled beautifully at me, before walking away.

"Come on, Suze," Andrew begged, tugging at my arms. "Stop staring at your boy's ass, and come and sit with me."

I followed him, sitting in my usual seat. Brad swivelled round in his own seat. "Sis, what's up?"

"Nothing much; you?"

"Nothing." And that was the end of our conversation...until I spotted a bandage over his wrist.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked, pointing to the bandage.

"Oh...this?" Brad questioned. "Erm, uh, it's...er, I hurt myself. Helping Jake with some, er, weights." It was so obvious that he was lying, but I ignored him, 'dropping' my purse on the floor and quickly tugging up his bandage.

Inky black letters spelling out Thorns was on his wrist.

"Brad," I asked. "What's this?"


	19. 019 I can see a better day

Okay, I know it has been _forever_ since I updated. I don't really have an excuse – I did have exams last month, but that's not exactly a valid excuse anymore; also, I've started writing a new story on my Fictionpress account which I'm really enjoying writing – thus, Better's been on the backburner. Anyway, I'm assuming that this story has about five chapters left? The drama absolutely starts in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy :)

**Thanks to:**

**animeloverxxx: **You'll find out exactly what Thorns means in about two seconds; ooh, I think I might have made it slightly confusing – Brad has a tattoo with Thorns on. The bandage is just covering it. You're right that Jesse is doing something bad – although, he isn't cheating on Suze. Sorry for the slow update, but here are a few of the answers you've been waiting for!

**ticklemecutie: **Aaaah, I feel so guilty – everyone's been asking me to update soon and it takes me over 3 months to do so :( I promise that you'll find some of the answers you're looking for in this chapter.

**Jediahsokaroxx: **You totally guessed correctly – and don't worry, you didn't ruin it, because it'll be slightly getting revealed in this chapter. You smart cookie :)

**kimmi0490: **Hehe, a rebel indeed :')

**xXmaybell007Xx: **Here's the update – sorry it took so long :(

**CupcakeSweetheart: ** Alright, Finchy ;] haha, it has taken me so long to update…shame on me.

**Plainlyironic: **Thank you very much :)

**katey-xox: **Thank you :)

**Title and song credit goes to Justin Bieber; you either love him or hate him haha. I certainly love the kid.**

**019.**

**I close my eyes, and I can see a better day.**

"What the hell?" I stared at his tattoo, trying to fathom what on earth 'thorns' meant. "Mom and Andy will _kill _you when they see this."

"Well, they're not gonna." He stared at me menacingly. I had never been the recipient of that look before.

"Oh, what – so, you're threatening me now?" I scoffed. Turning away from his, I picked up my bag and walked out of homeroom. I shook my head, turning the corner, ready to sit in the girls' toilets for however long was necessary. Unfortunately, I caught sight of Cee and Adam sharing a lengthy kiss. Okay, I know I said I was happy that Adam was with Cee – but still…

Cee must have heard my approaching footsteps, as she pulled away from Adam, smiling sheepishly when she saw me. "Hey," she said softly.

Adam also said hi, grinning at me over the top of Cee's head. I had to smile at his enthusiasm. "Hey," I said to the both of them. An awkward silence came over us as we all tried to think of something to say. Surprisingly, Adam broke the silence. "I'm gonna nip to the little boys' room. You two chat." With that, he jogged off, leaving me and CeeCee.

I didn't hate Cee anymore. I think there had always been a part of me that had wanted the two of us to be friends again; this part of me was dominant once again.

"Are you okay?" she asked me, looking concernedly at my face. "You look upset."

I bit my lip. There was so much I wanted to tell her. Whenever I'd had a problem in the past, she'd be the one I told. I love Adam, don't get me wrong – but he's a guy; he doesn't understand. "Yeah," I eventually said. "Just life in general."

Our silence spoke a thousand words – each of them along the lines of _let's just brush this whole stupid argument under the carpet, and go back to being best friends._ Unfortunately, pride was my deadly sin – and I wasn't being the first to break our whole frenemy thing. "I gotta go," I said, a sheepish look on my face. "Tell Adam I'll catch him later."

As I walked off, I heard Cee yell out my name. "I know we're not friends or whatever, but can you meet me tonight at Starbucks? It's really really _really _important."

I didn't know what it was that made me say yes, but I said it. "I'll see you at seven."

I was distracted all the way through school. Jesse was continuously asking me what was wrong.

"Querida, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I peeked at him. He looked a little disappointed and hurt that I wouldn't tell him 'what was wrong'. For once in my life, I decided to be totally honest. "I'm meeting Cee at Starbucks. Brad's got some random tattoo that says 'thorns' and," I sucked in a breath, "something's off with you and I don't know what."

I totally expected him to address what was wrong with him. So, you could have knocked me over with a feather when he asked in a shocked voice, "Thorns?"

I was so annoyed at Jesse, but also concerned for Brad. What was so shocking about this thorns thing that even my reckless boyfriend was shocked at. "What is it? What's so bad about it?"

"Er, nothing…nothing." He quickly pecked me on the cheek. "I'll be back in a bit." So there I was, sat alone at lunch, looking like a total loser.

Adam must have spotted me, as he yelled me over to go and sit with him and his football buddies.

"Where's Jesse?" he asked me, scooting over so I could sit with him.

I shrugged, talking quietly so only Adam could hear. "He's been really weird lately; I don't think he wants to be with me anymore." To my horror, tears sprung to my eyes. Thankfully, Adam didn't see, as he was taking a sip of his Coke. I quickly wiped my eyes.

"Nah, don't say that." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "The boy's gaga for you."

"Did CeeCee tell you that we're meeting for coffee later?"

"You are?" Adam's face widened into a goofy grin. "That's awesome."

I made a noise, attempting to agree with Adam. What could be so important? I guess I'd find out soon enough.

Lunch soon passed, with Jesse finally returning just as the bell rang. "I'm so sorry," he said, kissing me on my temple. I tried not to notice that he hadn't kissed me on my lips in a while. "What's up?" he asked, looking at my face.

"Nothing," I said quietly, leaning into him. "Where did you go?"

"On the phone." He wrapped an arm around my waist, guiding us through the crowds. "Want to come over tonight – we could spend some time together." As we reached my locker, he gently pushed me into the wall and kissed me. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately."

I instantly felt guilty – but then, I felt slightly annoyed. Hadn't I told him before that I was going to Starbucks with Cee? Man, I was so hormonal these days. "I'm going to Starbucks with CeeCee."

"You are?" His eyebrows shot up. "Wow, didn't see that one coming." I said nothing, but wondered if he had even been listening to me before. "Well, what time are you going?"

"Seven."

"Can I come over to yours till then?" He buried his face in my hair. "I really have missed you."

Fast forward three hours later, and Jesse and I were lying on my bed, watching reruns of The Simpsons. Not very romantic, but I didn't mind. I was with Jesse, and that was all that mattered. Besides, it wasn't like we were actually _watching _TV. Of course, we weren't doing the dirty – just making out.

All too soon, it was time for me to go to Starbucks. I was regretting having agreed to go with Cee, just wanting to stay with Jesse. "I love you," I said, kissing him goodbye.

"I love you too," he answered, flashing me a quick grin before climbing into his car.

Fast forward twenty minutes, and Cee and I were sat with coffees. I hadn't expected us to just sit there in silence, but that's sort of what we were doing.

Eventually, I asked her why she had brought me here if we were just going to sit there.

"I don't know how to say this…" I could see that she had visibly paled beneath her makeup. "I know we're not, you know, friends – but I swear to you that what I'm going to say – it isn't a lie. I only know because Kelly thought it was really funny."

"What is it?" I bit my lip, suddenly feeling very scared.

"It's Jesse. He's only with you because of a bet."

* * *

And that's why this story is called Better ;]


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